Assessing students’ Final Placement Portfolios and working with colleagues to make decisions as to whether the work is of sufficient quality to pass the student and so enable the progression to qualified social workers.

Providing confidential support to parents using the Children’s Centre to help them raise concerns, address issues and effectively engage with the services provided (which include support groups, one-to-one sessions with staff and the provision of relevant information), as well as providing a liaison service between parents and the committee of the Children’s Centre.

Providing guidance, support and advice to the staff, volunteers and other committee members of the local authority Children’s Centre (which incorporates Sure Start and professionals from a range of disciplines including health, the voluntary sector and education), to help guide the organisation in its development and the provision of its services.

Providing guidance, support and advice to the staff, volunteers and other trustees of the organisation, helping to steer its development and the provision of its services.

Worked with carers and staff to identify issues with current functioning of Carers’ Reference group and made recommendations for development and improvement, taking account of current and required structure, membership and aims and objectives.

Revisited the 2005 work (see below) to update and make additional specific recommendations for developments, taking into account current resource levels and staffing structures.

Critically read, assessed and commented upon Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council’s draft Carers’ Strategy, suggesting a range of additions and improvements.

Designed and delivered lectures on two subjects to social work students: Disability and Society and Care and the Life Course. Additional tasks included the setting and marking of essays, setting exams and providing guidance on revision and support via seminar groups. This work was with both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

I facilitated sessions at the national agenda-setting conference focussing on the experiences and needs of disabled fathers and wrote up the results of these sessions for the conference report, which can be viewed at: http://www.hull.ac.uk/cass/research/research_news/disabled_fathers/index.html

Researched and produced a service review for Disability Association Carlisle and Eden’s Young Disabled People’s Project. Tasks included individual interviews and group discussions with young disabled people and the development, distribution and analysis of audit forms for completion by a range of organisations. The final report included a series of recommendations to help the steering group in deciding on the project’s future development.