The full list of finalists for the prestigious Social Work Awards has been released - congratulations to all the nominees! This year the national awards ceremony will feature 18 different categories, as well as an overall Social Worker of the Year who will be selected from the winners of individual awards. As part of our support for the Social Work Awards, Children's Social Work Matters are sponsoring this year's Team Leader of the Year (Childrens Services) category. The ceremony will take place in November this year.

It's been another challenging year for many children and families, and social workers across the country have been going above and beyond to support them through adversity. The work being done by the profession has resulted in the busiest year ever for awards nominations, so competition this year will be fierce!

“This year we received the most entries ever which goes to show organisations and individuals are keen to shine a light on the inspirational achievements of an often-overlooked profession. We would like to thank all those who took the time to nominate a friend, colleague, or team for an award this year. To our finalists, we’d like to say congratulations! Being nominated for a national award, whilst supporting others during very challenging times, is a remarkable achievement of which you should be very proud.”

Peter Hay CBE, Chair of the Social Work Awards

As always, it's brilliant to see plenty of representation from our region across the award categories. You can read the full list of finalists on the SWOTY site, but we've picked out the Yorkshire & Humber finalists below:

Supportive Social Work Employer Award Finalist:

North Lincolnshire Council

Children's Social Worker of the Year Finalist:

Omaid Badar (Kirklees Children's Social Care)

Practice Educator of the Year Finalists:

Christopher Smith-Whicker (Kirklees Children's Social Care)

Sharon Saartje Hirshman (Sheffield City Council)

Suzanne Smith (Hull City Council)

NQ Children's Social Worker of the Year Finalist:

Kelly Bentley-Simon (Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust)

Team of the Year (Children's Services) Finalist:

North Lincolnshire Council Fostering Team

Team of the Year (Adult Services) Finalist:

City of Doncaster Adult Central Locality Team

University Social Work Lecturer of the Year Finalist:

Lynda Hughes (University of Sheffield)

NQ Adult Social Worker of the Year Finalist:

James Hussein (Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust)

Social Justice Advocate Award Finalist:

Elaine James (Bradford Council)

Adult Social Worker of the Year Finalist:

Charlotte Spain (North Lincolnshire Council)