Are you registered to vote?
One of the activities that has been engaging Boot Out Austerity walkers and supporters since the walk has been encouraging people to register to vote - see the flyer we have produced elsewhere on the website. We believe it is especially important that young people are registered to vote, and use their vote, so that they feel they have a stake in society.
Social workers and others who work with young people are in a good position to help them to register, as this blog post by Kirk Lewis shows.
With the general election looming in the not too distant future there is a tangible opportunity to steer the ship of social justice towards creating a more fair and equal society. The election also gives professionals a rare opportunity to take the wheel a...
Only connect
Testing out our Birmingham to Wolverhampton route on a blustery March day, it occurred to me how much of the southern half of #bootoutausterity will take me on a journey through my professional and personal past. Places I have worked, links to people I have met. Also many local references to my surname, suggesting distant associations with my family heritage.
Walking allows a closer connection to places than seeing them from a car window. It improves our physical health, supports our mental wellbeing, helps the local environment and enhances a sense of community. Many modern social work offices look like call centres, with workers spending long hours slumped over their laptops, their headsets clamped to their ears. In theory we're all better connect...
