The Trustees of the Social Workers Benevolent Trust have noted for some years now some discrepancies in applications from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For those unaware of the Trust, it offers financial help to social workers and their dependents in times of hardship, for example when experiencing sickness, bereavement, family difficulties or sudden catastrophe.
In the preparation of our Annual Report the Trustees were looking at statistics that have been gathered showing the numbers of applications for grants received according to the four countries.
As far as we are aware there’s a total of 121,628 registered Social Workers in the UK. Of those, 80%
are in England, 9% in Scotland, and 5.5% in both Wales and Northern Ireland.
The figures for applications to the Trust for the four countries for the last financial year are: 92% are
from England, 2% are from Scotland, 4% for Wales and 2% for Northern Ireland. We consider that there is quite a stark disparity for England and Scotland in terms of the applications the Trust receives.
We wondered whether any readers would help us explore why such a disparity exists. Perhaps additionally it will be possible to let colleagues who are social workers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales know that the Trust is available to give limited financial help where there is a real need. More information about applying for grants or making a donation is available on our website: swbt.uk