Wayne’s Weekly survey report 2023

Dear colleagues

Thanks for subscribing to my newsletter, which has evolved into ‘Wayne’s Weekly’ (WW) in recent months.?I hope it is a useful repository of information for social work professionals at every stage of their career.

Many thanks to EVERYONE who completed the WW survey.?I’m absolutely delighted to have received 288 responses!??I very much appreciate your constructive and diplomatic feedback.?Although I cannot promise to incorporate all of the feedback received, I have certainly read it all.?If you were not able to complete the survey, no problem - I understand everyone is busy.?

I maintain WW proactively, it’s not part of my job description.?I take pride in providing what I hope is a helpful multifaceted weekly newsletter for busy social work professionals in my network.

Below is a report I’ve compiled based on the feedback and findings collated from the survey.?My hopes of creating a short report were foolhardy on reflection!?The report explores the prominent themes and concludes with how I will refine and streamline WW in future.?I present the quantitative data using graphs and pie charts to display numerical information and list a selection of the qualitative feedback in bullet-pointed comments (with the occasional reply from me).

Disclaimer: I cannot pretend to be a social work academic or researcher. I'm just a bit of an ‘unconventional intellectual’ in my own way (geek ??), which I honed in the Anti-racism Visionary role and other previous social work roles.

How did WW start?

In 2020 (following George Floyd’s murder), I spearheaded a movement to reignite ‘Anti-racism in Social Work’.?I knew it was imperative to educate, empower and equip the workforce; expand my professional network; develop opportunities for collaborations; work effectively with stakeholders and raise the profile of my work.?Therefore, due to a combination of my insatiable passion, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement and racial justice being topical at the time, I began to sporadically circulate articles/blogs, resources and my own materials with my modest (but growing) professional network at the time.?

I believed there was a need to spotlight news and developments relevant to social workers and to share useful information and resources.?Throughout 2020-2022, I was fortunate that my professional network grew exponentially on various platforms (including LinkedIn and Twitter).?I continued to produce and circulate content incessantly and irregularly.??In the Anti-racism Visionary role, I was able to achieve my aims/objectives (and more) through hard work, teamwork and by utilising the knowledge, skills and expertise within my professional network.

In January 2022, I returned to my generic Professional Officer role.?From late February 2022, I began to share a weekly ‘Random e-bulletin’, which was more structured, less sporadic and easier to digest than the ‘ballistic missile’ approach I had previously deployed.?This later became a ‘Generic e-bulletin’ and included the latest social work news and updates each Thursday categorised into: announcements & reports; articles and blogs; consultations, petitions and surveys; events and training; opportunities and vacancies and resources.

In November 2022, I invited subscribers to suggest a new name as ‘Generic e-bulletin’ was bland and lacked any real brand identity.?I received lots of suggestions (including ‘Wayne’s Whopper!’ ????), but I decided ‘Wayne’s Weekly’ was the best option because of the palatable alliteration and overall simplicity.?Due to my inability to suppress my inner geek (??), I’ve found myself creating logos for WW… hence the assortment…?The range of logos (and other artwork) reflect my interest in street art and graffiti, which is important for me to incorporate into the WW brand.?This is how WW has evolved so far.

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But why create a survey?

As outlined above, I’ve distributed updates and resources amongst my professional network for over 2 years now (in different formats), but never invited feedback from subscribers before.?Although the occasional feedback for WW (and previous incarnations) was generally positive, my professional curiosity has increasingly leaned towards exploring the following questions:

·????????What type of social workers subscribe to WW??

·????????What stage of their social work careers are subscribers at??

·????????Which categories of WW are most/least helpful??

·????????Is WW a primary source of social work news for subscribers??

·????????Do subscribers share WW within their own networks/organisations??

·????????Do subscribers have time to read WW?

I decided it was important for me to ascertain which areas of WW work well, the areas for development and ultimately whether social workers actually benefit from WW – hence devising the survey.

What are the findings and outcomes from the survey?

The WW survey ran between 21/12/22 – 11/01/23 and had 288 respondents, which I calculate to be roughly 9.6% of my email network.

Below are pie charts and graphs of the quantitative data from the survey, which are self-explanatory:

Q1.?Which best describes your current (or most recent) professional role?

Other – 18.1% | Social Work educator/academic – 17.4% | Manager – 17.7% | NQSW – 3.8% | Experienced social worker – 27.4% | Practice Lead/Consultant/Principal – 15.6%

Respondents who indicated ‘other’ identified their current (or most recent) roles as: Social care assistant; Social Work Student; Social worker; Expert by experience; Head of Quality & Co-Production - charity sector; Retired social worker; third sector leader; retired social worker from independent practice (on Social Work England register during period of the Corona Virus Act legislation); charity safeguarding role; learning and development consultant; independent Social Worker/consultant; Workforce Quality and Development Practitioner; EDI manager; project manager; early Help practitioner; charity mental health programme lead; civil servant; semi-retired social worker; student social worker; improvement advisor; workforce development Lead; social policy officer; participation officer; experienced social worker and social work educator; sector expert; commissioner; unemployed; social work apprentice; support officer in adult social services; human resources professional; senior practitioner; inclusion and equalities officer; coach for social workers; director of adults social care; partnership manager of a social work teaching partnership; learning academy - learning & development lead; chief executive, voluntary sector; independent social worker/trainer and fostering team.

?Q2.?Which best describes your current professional arrangement?

Other – 7.7% | Unemployed - 0.7% | Social Work Student – 3.5% | Employee – 68.5% | Self-employed/Independent – 12.6% | Agency Social Worker – 4.5%

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Respondents who indicated ‘other’ identified their current professional arrangements as: career break; social work support organisation; unqualified social worker; charity sector; semi-retired picking up management work at times; semi-retired; nationwide mental health charity; carer for parent; employed and self-employed; practice development; social work lecturer; employed by an independent fostering agency; Fur Coat Enthusiast (full-time); social work education; social work academic and retired with occasional teaching work.

Q3.?Please specify your current (or most recent) area of practice

Other – 8.1% | Social Work Educator 13.6% | Justice – 4.5% | Mental health – 15.4% | Young adults – 4.3% | Adults – 22.6% | Emergency Duty – 3.1% | Children & Families – 27.5%

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Respondents who indicated ‘other’ identified their current (or most recent) area of practice as: older adults; refugees; learning disability; modern slavery response Team; mental health, children, adult services and social work education; quality Assurance; residential care; sports - Gymnastics; EDI; policy; project assistant; Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND); corporate; research; adults/children and families/educator; Discharge to Assess & Approved Mental Health Professional; children’s crisis mental health team; harmful sexual behaviour young people; fostering; human resources; training, coaching and national auditing; adults & children & families; NHS; advocacy; practice education lead - so I oversee all areas of practice in the LA; charity trustee; anti-racism and racism; higher education; sexual violence and sexual abuse survivors (all ages/genders); deaf service and practice improvement and development.

Q4.?From the following options, please choose 3 that you consider to be the BENEFITS of subscribing to Wayne’s Weekly

Research & Resources – 23.5% | Opportunities & Vacancies – 7.1% | Events & Training – 16.2% | Announcements & Reports – 22.6% | Articles & Blogs – 23.4% | Consultations, Petitions & Surveys – 7.3%?

Q5.?Wayne’s Weekly is my primary source for social work news and updates

Strongly disagree – 2.2% | Disagree 16.4% | Neither agree nor disagree – 30.3% | Strongly agree – 12.8% | Agree – 38.3%

Q6.?I share Wayne’s Weekly with my colleagues and/or within my organisation?

Q7.?I always have time to read the sections of Wayne’s Weekly that interest me

Below is a selection of the qualitative data from the survey:

Q8. What do you LIKE about Wayne's Weekly (WW)?

·????????“It provides information that I probably would not have found otherwise - it's informative and concise.”

·????????“WW gives me easy access to continue educating myself which will inform my work and life practice.”

·????????“You share things I would have no way of finding out about - so a HUGE thank you Wayne!!!”

·????????“The topics shared are relevant, up to date and informative. They are easy to understand.”

·????????“It’s all in one email instead of 20!” [WR -??!]

·????????“I like that you bring together information and widen access to resources that I may not have found myself without a lot of effort - which I don't have time for. This relates especially to anti-racist stuff that you bring and has helped me massively in making steps to critically check my own practice and acknowledge that racism exists in social work.”

·????????“I relate to most of the content. Some articles have reassured me that I’m not the only one who holds certain views about certain issues.?I’m also grateful for WW's passion for social issues and being the voice of the marginalised.”

·????????“Current and topical.?Wide remit.?Interesting and informative.?Easy and accessible format.?Fantastic resource.”

·????????“The emails and attachments have continued to be current and relevant to social workers and allied professionals, across all disciplines.?Wayne’s contact has been particularly important in giving prominence to those working on the front line, supporting others, raising real issues and providing evidence of the challenges facing colleagues (he has remained ‘one of us’ throughout).”?[WR - This compliment really touched my heart – thank you! ??]

·????????“WW is always full of useful information and advice - and very much on topic.”

·????????“As a registered social worker not in direct practice, WW provides a comprehensive update across a number of key areas, as well as other useful pieces of info.?I love and often share the infographics/key quotes with my team. Big thanks for collating all the useful resources, Wayne!”

·????????“The anti-racist resources and research.?The infographics.?Links to articles e.g. from Community Care or news outlets, as I wouldn't otherwise access these.”

·????????“I like the wealth of information shared.”

·????????“I like its immediacy and that it’s led by a person from a Black and ethnic minority group.”

·????????The way in which other social workers and ASYE’s make good use of his resources and have developed ability to reflect and develop, crave more learning.”

·????????“It’s a one-stop for all information.?I like the sub-sections and all the active links – it’s very accessible.”

·????????“The resources and opportunities - particularly those relating to anti-discriminatory practice (and positive-discriminatory opportunities) that don't get the same profile in other social care bulletins.”

·????????“You provide me with some much-needed resources to share with colleagues who are not social work trained...?This enables the practice development of people across the organisation.”

·????????“It's an extremely useful, curated list of materials that matter. It's useful having the weekly digest as opposed to the daily flurry of emails.” [WR - Thank you.?It took me a while, but I eventually realised! ????]

·????????“So much interesting information, which I’m usually seeing for the very first time.”?

·????????“Current news in social care. More interesting than the emails I get from the Practice Development team here.”

·????????“It's a good mix of literature and visual.?Good resources and direct work tools.”

·????????“Frequent and thorough! Thank you!”

·????????“It helps me keep in touch with vital information about the social work world that I might have missed.”

·????????“I find WW very insightful. Wayne’s emails are always on point with current social work, news and events.”

·????????“Provides some excellent current resources to disseminate.?WW is well structured so that information can be shared appropriately within the different sectors.?Adds to both the quantity and quality of resource information already available to the workforce.”?

·????????“The insistency, consistency and persistency.?Also, the accompaniments.”

·????????“I’m amazed by the research that goes into WW.?It is a valuable resource that saves me time and provides useful information.”

·????????“Its diversity and generosity of spirit.”

·????????“Very informative resources which I have shared with our management for e.g. BPS & School of Shabs supervision template and other attachments, which our AMHP manager used to amend the internal supervision template.”

·????????“Up to date and succinct.?It supports my continued learning and I’m able to share the newest information with my colleagues and students.”

·????????“A round-up one-stop shop of things that are of value to me from a trusted source.”

·????????“The frequency of information and the thinking it generates relating to my practice and training opportunities available.”

·????????“The articles have been helpful for assignments and discussions in placement supervision.”

·????????“I read a lot of the resources and articles when Wayne was the anti-racist lead. They were deeply insightful for my practice and for my personal growth on bias, racism and all other issues affecting social work.”

·????????“Keeping up to date with everything to implement change within our agency.”

·????????“It’s well written, highlights issues of the day and has diversity at its core.”?

·????????“Truly the greatest training resources available to social workers at the moment. A gift of light in a time of darkness. Thank you for your service???.”?[WR – Thank you kindly. ??]

·????????“I enjoy the summary of articles.?It’s a really helpful overview and something that I can come back to when I know I want to do some reading or research.”

·????????“I like the layout. I find it easy to pick out the things that relate to me. The links are great.”

·????????“A treasure trove of information that I may easily have missed.” ?[WR - ??????]

·????????“EVERYTHING!?Keep it going.?It really is useful and worthwhile.?You are doing a great job and it’s just what we need.”

·????????It’s very comprehensive and covers stories I have often missed. Similarly, the inclusion of relevant reports is very useful.”

·????????“Wayne has done all the filtering for me, so I can trust his content.”

·????????“It’s such a useful source of information in one place.?Each bulletin provides really helpful and practical information which is relevant to the sector and resources to support practice and practice education.?I regularly share links and resources you provide among other educators for continued development, particularly in relation to inclusive practice in social work.?Thank you.”

·????????“The honesty of the articles/blogs and the links to resources/information.”

·????????“I’m able to scan the headings and prioritise what to read.”

·????????“It’s informative and a good connection to BASW.”

·????????“Excellent updates on race and racism and anti-racism in different aspects of society - including but not limited to social work.”

·????????“I am a retired social worker and the updated news, events, training and blogs are useful to keep me up to date with what is going on. I like the announcements and opportunities, as so many opportunities are not available for those who may be self-employed to network and to apply for hard to find job posts or contract job/freelance work.”

·????????“Bringing together relevant national and regional updates and resources to share amongst our local networks.”

·????????“The weekly information is a main source of news about articles and resources that I pass on to social work students.”

·????????“I tend to share the resources with the learners I’m supporting and I use them to support peer learning discussions so new ideas are useful.”

·????????“I like the way that it is constructed and there is a clear emphasis on the core values of the social work role embedded within the information.”

·????????“That I can cherry pick articles relevant to practice, interest and that it promotes anti-oppressive practice.?WW is a voice/platform for social workers - we need to keep it buoyant, loud and clear!”

·????????“It raises my awareness of current research and provides good reference points.?Also, it reminds me to continue questioning and developing practice and provides access to helpful resources that I use with students, NQSWs and apprentices - as well as sharing with my team and colleagues.”

·????????“WW helps me feel connected with social work. I left statutory work several months ago and the weekly newsletter has been beneficial in enabling me to keep up to date with current issues.”

·????????“The alphabetised collation.”

·????????“It’s clear, informative and is inclusive of diverse voices and issues. I feel part of a community, and ability to share knowledge with my students and colleagues because Wayne has taken so much care and time to build this and maintain it. Really valued resources. Thank you, Wayne.” [WR – Thanks very much, it’s appreciated.” ????????????]

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Q9. What do you DISLIKE about Wayne’s Weekly?

·????????“That it's not daily.”

·????????“Sometimes there is repetition of items and it can be quite long.”

·????????“It can sometimes be a struggle to get through all information.”

·????????“Nothing, I think it’s great!”

·????????“The time limitation applied to access the downloadable materials on WeTransfer.”?[WR – Noted.?Please see the conclusion below.]?

·????????“That I don't have enough time with work, family and commitments to always read it all.”?[WR – Noted.?Please see the conclusion below.]

·????????“Too many interesting things that I never have time to read it all!”?

·????????“It's grown in length significantly, so I often don't read it all or miss quite a bit of it.?This is not a criticism though there's just so much out there to read and never enough time!”

·????????“Nothing to dislike. I use the parts I find useful.”

·????????“Standard format - can sometimes get lost in same looking emails!”?[WR – Hopefully the unique WW subject line and changing logos will help subscribers to distinguish between different editions of WW.]

·????????“It’s sometimes a little repetitive, but my bad, I also follow Wayne on LinkedIn and my peers and colleagues also forward/share some of Wayne's info – so I receive the info from different sources.?- So, no real dislikes.”

·????????“It’s very lengthy for a weekly briefing.?Lots of information appears to repeat from week to week, so it could perhaps be omitted once it has already been shared once.?There's a lot of links to news articles from mainstream national news outlets like The Guardian and The Independent, which I don't particularly value as they are readily available directly/elsewhere.”

·????????“There is sometimes information from the previous week, so you have to look carefully for the new stuff.”?[WR – Noted.?Please see the conclusion below.]

·????????“I don’t always have time to read it, but that's not Wayne's fault :-)”

·????????“It can be bulky sometimes ...lots of info but I just deep in and out, choosing and picking what I need, when I need it.”

·????????“What is there to dislike??There's only one WR.”?[WR – Aw, thanks – I salute you! ????]

·????????“There can be a lot - and some stuff is repeated - could have 'new this week' or 'top feature'.?I get how its laid out in a simple format.?It would be great if it were on a website so things could be searchable.”?[WR – Thank you for these suggestions.?Great ideas!?However, due to limited capacity, time and resources I cannot take this forward at the moment.]

·????????“Most of the jobs advertised aren’t for ASYE programmes, which I would like to apply for before finish my course in a few months.” [WR – Noted.?I’ll try to incorporate these where I can.]

·????????“Only that there are so many resources.?I could spend a long time digesting them all (not really a dislike).”

·????????“It is better now that it contains links to WeTransfer, rather than email attachments.”

·????????“Too many articles that we can access from regularly reading Guardian and Independent ourselves. Too much repetition from previous week - I'd like it if only new things were shared each time.”?[WR – Noted.?The idea is to provide those who do not subscribe to The Guardian and The Independent with one-stop content relevant to social work.]

·????????“Absolutely nothing. Top tier stuff.”

·????????“It’s very small, but sometimes the layout can be hard to read from a mobile phone, when there aren’t spaces between each article - but that’s just personal preference rather than a ‘dislike’.”

·????????“WW is sometimes long, but I pick out the things that I feel are most relevant.”

·????????“There is a LOT of information and it can be difficult to prioritise which to read now/later.”

·????????“It would be helpful for news articles to perhaps stay on there for a few weeks before being removed. I sometimes find there are too many articles in there. Could the e-mail be separated by weeks also, so that the new articles and resources are easier to spot? ?It sometimes takes time to read through to find the newer ones.”??[WR – Noted.?Please see the conclusion below.]

·????????“There is a lot of information, but you can easily pick and choose.”

·????????“Sometimes there’s a lot of information, but I can sift through to get to relevant stuff.”

·????????“Sometimes the format is hard to read (i have dyslexia and ADHD) and the list format with lots of information clumped together can make it difficult to digest.?I realise this is quite specific to my own processing issues but others with neuro divergent conditions may find the same.?Perhaps lay out could be reviewed to have more clearly defined sections and different background colours (to regular email black and white formatting).”?[WR – Noted.?Please see the conclusion below for details of how I will take this forward].

·????????“There is so much useful information, but it would be easier to identify the different resources if they were split into sections, i.e. topics etc with an image to highlight what they're about.?Although, this would be more work and I’m very grateful for it as it is. Thank you.”

·????????“Nothing really.?Sometimes it takes a long time to look through all the listings.?I liked it when it was exclusively dedicated to Anti-Racist Practice.”

·????????“There isn't much I dislike about WW. Weekly updates work well for me, as it is common practice for businesses to send out weekly notices or newsletters to update subscribers.”

·????????“So much information, but this is not a dislike - it gives me the opportunity to choose what is most appropriate to share with the workforce.”

·????????“WW covers such a broad range of issues.?I would like it to be more focused. I have a particular interest in issues around diversity and equality with social care and would like more focus on these issues.”

·????????“There's nothing in particular I dislike about WW.”

·????????“The timeframe to access downloads from WeTransfer. However, this is actually a benefit as it encourages me to read the email and to locate the areas that are of interest to me rather than 'parking' and returning to it later (which usually doesn't happen because I forget!)”

·????????“WW is a great succinct newsletter. Real developments since the previous bulletins. Excellent!”

·????????“There is nothing to dislike - you take the time to disseminate all this information! Thank you.”

Q10.?What should there be MORE of in Wayne’s Weekly?

·????????“What I need is there.”

·????????“Keep providing this excellent service. “

·????????“I think you are what brings the whole thing together. It's your commitment to bringing stuff to our attention that keeps me interested. Because I am thinking if Wayne thinks this is good it is worth paying attention.”

·????????“I am relatively new to WW so for now I like things as they are.”

·????????“No suggestions. It has a great mix of things.”

·????????“I like that it's theme is anti-racist SW and that it brings together so many valuable resources and articles, so perhaps just focusing on this as a 'brand' might help to focus the content.”

·????????“More of the same, please.”

·????????“I love the images!?Eye-catching engagement!"

·????????“The current balance works well for us as an organisation and particularly the focused resources on anti-racist practice.?This has made a significant difference to our teaching / training strategy.”

·????????“I'm a research/education/training/development?buff so more of any of these would always be welcome.”

·????????“As a practitioner affected by racism, I’m hoping the efforts to continue to advocate will not be put on a back burner.”

·????????“Information possibly grouped into service areas? Adults, Mental health, Childrens & Families etc possibly?”

·????????“I think it’s an amazing overview, I find the anti-racist focused pieces really helpful.”

·????????“Particularly enjoy the challenging articles about race, discrimination and learning about being a better ally.”

·????????“More articles from yourself; your articles are great and really inspiring.” [WR – Very kind, thank you. ??]

·????????“Resources around prejudice and racism and the duty on our profession to challenges the negative narratives we hear elsewhere.”

·????????“Resources are always good.”

·????????“You do so much already - not sure there needs to be much more.”

·????????“More focus on diversity and equality and anti-racism issues.”

·????????“I think there should be more social work podcast recommendations in there.”

·????????“I like the content and practice-related information is good like the anti-poverty info. Research and evidence for decision making is good too.”

·????????“All of it is relevant but perhaps a clear message at the top to remind readers that it is not intended that the recipient reads everything but is a resource for them to self-select areas of interest. Summaries of key articles, reports and resources would be great but appreciate that Wayne only has 24 hours in a day and he is super busy and does this voluntarily!”

·????????“More of the same!!!!”

·????????“I like the blogs and hearing the voice of people and their experiences.”

·????????“Perhaps more links to legal / case law.”

·????????“I feel that there is a good mix of information.”

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Q11.?What should there be LESS of in Wayne’s Weekly?

·????????“Difficult to say but I review information based on areas of interest.”

·????????“If I’m honest, I can't keep up but I just have to accept that and let it go and know that it's there if something comes up where I think you might have included something on it I can search through and see if anything strikes me.”

·????????“Nothing you have a choice read it or leave it.”

·????????“Perfect as it is.”

·????????“I think there is a good balance as it is.”

·????????“Sometimes it’s huge and tricky to really identify the most relevant and important pieces but appreciate that it reflects what's going on in the sectors.”

·????????“Not sure as presume you are trying to capture wide audience.”

·????????“The content is almost too good!”

·????????“There is a good balance already and it depends on what interests the individual.”

·????????“Everyone has their own preferences so hard to determine this given its potential wide appeal.””

·????????It's a technicality I'm sure can't be avoided, but due to not always having as much time as I'd like to read everything that comes through, it's a shame that some links expire before I get to them.”

·????????“Some of the stuff that can be found elsewhere - reports etc.”

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Q12. ?Any additional COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS about Wayne’s Weekly?

·????????“Thank you for the hard work you continue to put into advancing social work. This indeed is your passion; please, keep up the good work.”

·????????“Keep up the good work the fact that it's evolved into WW evidences the need for it.”

·????????“It would be helpful to not have time-limited access to the materials stored in WeTransfer. I don't understand it, does that mean the materials will be deleted after the expiry period? I think viewers need to understand if they can access archived/old materials. [WR - Unfortunately, the WeTransfer download link expires after 1 week, so my best advice is to download the attachments to file/share sooner rather than later – if they are of interest.]

·????????“Keep going. You have influenced me and others in ways that we are still processing and understanding but social work would be worse off without your voice.”

·????????“I am grateful for WW and having so many different resources in one place! Thank you.”

·????????“Informative and interesting. Easy to navigate and helps with my CPD.”

·????????“I value it a lot and recommend it to students and colleagues.”

·????????“Always find this is full of helpful things that benefits my CPD and keeps me interested and aware of the wider social work agenda. Especially when I don’t read it I feel less connected to my profession and less informed of events and themes. Thank you so much for your efforts, Wayne ??”

·????????“It's brilliant and I've been getting it for years and I've learnt so much from it, thank you so much!”

·????????“Thank you, Wayne, for the work you put in. It is much appreciated by me and a much need resource for the sector.”

·????????“Thank you for taking the time to keep those of us retired updated.”

·????????“Thank you for taking the time and making the effort to compile. It's useful part of my weekly reading.””

·????????“Thanks Wayne, I do appreciate you taking the time to put together WW a very helpful resource.”

·????????“Thank you for taking the time to prepare and send the information- it is appreciated.”

·????????“No, only to thank Wayne for doing this on behalf of the profession on a regular basis.”

·????????“It’s been one of the best things that has happened in recent times to keep me updated.?I feel more of a connection with what’s happening.”

·????????“Thank you for taking the time to distribute the materials you do; they are highly beneficial to our own development and the improvement of our organisations.”

·????????“Suggestion, have you considered setting it up as a web page with the six panels/sections? You could have your choice of 'pinned' top item in each box with a feed underneath that the visitor could scroll down? (A snapshot of this format could be emailed weekly as well, for people who can receive HTML email.) The main advantage would be the inclusion of graphics -- plus, the webpage could serve as a searchable archive.”?[WR – Great idea!?I just wish I had the capacity, time and resources to have a website! ??]

·????????“I really enjoy the information that comes through, it’s really helpful that the information from different resources/sources all in one place - I regularly send out across the service.”

·????????Thank you, Wayne, for taking the time to collate information which I may otherwise miss. You provided a very valuable service to the profession by raising awareness of important developments. Thank you.

·????????“Thank you hugely for providing us all with such rich information.”

·????????“WW is a very useful tool which i find helpful as a busy social worker who has very little time to do independent research around practice issues concerning diversity, justice and change.”

·????????“Thanks for making the time and sharing all the insightful information. I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.”

·????????“Thank you, Wayne - really appreciate your weekly updates. Apologies that we don't acknowledge / let you know how useful and appreciative we are of the resources you share.” [WR - ??????]

·????????“God bless Wayne's work, it’s much appreciated.”

·????????“I appreciate the work that Wayne has put in for the benefit of his fellow professionals over the last couple of years :)”

·????????“Nothing at all. Keep smashing those glass ceilings!”

·????????“For me, WW is a great alternative to a platform like Twitter as it has so much relevance without me having to open an app.”

·????????“Thanks so much Wayne for putting this together.?It has a really useful and direct impact on my practice.”

·????????“Please do carry on the good work. People are grateful even though some might not have the time and courage to thank you.”

·????????“Keep it going. It’s not in your job description, but it’s fab. Many staff can’t afford BASW membership on top of other costs. I think it’s a great way to keep in touch with BASW developments and training events.”

·????????“Perhaps highlight new items. [WR – Excellent idea!?I will most definitely take this forward.?Thank you.”]

·????????“Thank you for taking time to invest all of this for social work.”

·????????“Just wanted to say a huge thank you. This must be a huge undertaking and it's really appreciated. I often find articles that I can share with the NQSW that I am ASYE assessor for as well as articles that inform and shape my practice.”

·????????“it's a great amalgamation of all the updates concerning social work practice and developments.”

·????????“Thanks for the hard work and effort, it is appreciated. Please keep it going, good resources are hard to come by.”

·????????“Thank you for this useful weekly email. Like the WW design. Thank you for all you do.”

·????????“Just thank you for the work you do and sharing such helpful resources.”

·????????“Thank you. It’s very worthwhile as a point of contact when wanting and needing to keep up when not in direct contact with the field, now retired. (Just had my 78th birthday but still asked to provide teaching).”

·????????“Thank you for WW Wayne. It’s really valued!”

?

Ok, good stuff.?So, what’s next?

The range of thematic findings and outcomes from the survey illuminate and evidence the efficacy and universality of WW.?Overall, I’m very pleased with the useful critical appraisal and complimentary feedback.?It all confirms to me that WW is a worthwhile endeavour that is beneficial for social workers (and allied professionals) in my network - which is the main objective.?As stated earlier, I do not consider myself as a social work academic or researcher, so I’m not going to provide a detailed evaluation of the findings or outcomes from the survey.?I will leave it to someone more qualified than me to provide their expert analysis if they wish.?I’m happy for others to extrapolate their own conclusions from the data and let me know their thoughts.

The survey has helped me to gain a clearer perspective of what is working well and less so in WW.?In the past, I have deliberately repeated some of the content.?I knew this extended the length of it at times, but my rationale was that some subscribers may not have had the time to read/digest specific content the first-time round - but would perhaps re-visit it later.?Also, I know the BONANZA and BUMPER editions are mahoosive…!?Hopefully they prove to be helpful and not a hinderance.

My only regrets with the survey are that I wish I had included a question about geographical location to ascertain where my subscribers study/work.?Also, I should have asked if respondents are BASW members or not.?Perhaps next time…

Due to the resounding feedback on the length of WW, I’ve made some immediate changes.?For example, the duration and volume of repeated content (especially articles and blogs) is now reduced.?Also, the email version of WW is now colour-coded.?Featured links are highlighted in yellow, repeated content is highlighted in grey and new content will remain in standard white to make WW easier to decipher.?So, apologies - I now recognise that my attempts to make WW generic (with easily retrievable content) has made it difficult to navigate and unwieldly on occasions.?I appreciate this feedback folks!?Also, WW is now hosted on LinkedIn for free.?To access it you do not need to be registered or logged in.

The editorial process for compiling WW is based on my perspective as a Black male social worker.?My vision is for WW to be as reputable as The Voice, but aimed at social workers (and allied professionals).?Although I hope the content is intersectional and relatable, I realise “I cannot please everybody all of the time” - so I just do the best that I can do.?On occasions, I have had to decline suggested content from people that I feel is too contentious or if it’s content that I cannot share with others confidently due to my own lack of knowledge.?The content of WW does not necessarily represent my views (or BASW’s) – but my editorial opinion is that what is shared has some value.?I will continue with this self-guided approach and retain editorial authority and autonomy.?

My objective is for WW to become a platform which resonates with the social work zeitgeist and for it to contain items of interest for anyone and everyone interested or invested in social work.?The weekly attachments for WW are now often too large to be sent via email, so I will continue to use WeTransfer routinely.?Unfortunately, the WeTransfer download link expires after 1 week, so my best advice is to download the attachments (to file/share/use) sooner rather than later – if they are of interest to you.

Remember, it is not intended for WW subscribers to read everything.?WW is a newsletter for you to personally select areas of interest.?Either file, share or discard!?I’m aware some subscribers have a ‘Wayne Weekly’ folder (some have sub-folders)!?I definitely recommend having a WW folder for easy retrieval of content from past editions.

I’m proud to have established an extensive and wide-ranging network of social workers (and allied professionals) internationally across various platforms.?This eventuality has been fruitful and reciprocal in terms of collaboration, partnership working and forming professional alliances.?I love to hear about WW being discussed in team meetings; policy discussions; social work supervision; in practice and in social work education.?I hope to make WW a vehicle for positive change, which underlines the benefits of BASW membership and encourages people to get involved in activism.

Again, thanks to EVERYONE who took part in the WW survey.?Sorry I was not able to respond to more comments in the qualitative data section, but just know that all of your responses are deeply appreciated by me.

As always, thanks to all my brothers, sisters, comrades and allies for supporting my work.

“One world, one race… the human race!” ???????

Kind regards

Wayne Reid

BASW England Professional Officer & Social Worker

Email – [email protected]

Twitter - @wayne_reid79