The Anti-Racist Movement wins Social Justice Advocate Award
Congratulations to Shantel Thomas and all members of A.R.M. on winning gold at the 2024 Social Worker of the Year Awards.
We are delighted to share that the Anti-Racist Movement (A.R.M), founded and led by Shantel Thomas, has won the Social Justice Advocate Award at the Social Worker of the Year Awards in London on Friday 8 November.
Established in 2006, these prestigious awards celebrate social work and promote positive stories from the profession. Each award category is judged by an independent panel of social workers, people with lived experience, and senior figures from the world of social work.
The Anti-Racist Movement (A.R.M.) has taken a unique approach to challenging racism – providing a safe space for global majority female social workers. The group’s founders recognised the systemic challenges that black women often endure, and wanted to create a space where social workers could openly share their personal experiences, feel understood, and be supported to effect change within their workplace. A.R.M. has made strides in shining a light on racism in the broader profession, and runs regular conferences, workshops and community-building activities. The group was founded on the principles of fearlessness, joyfulness and unapologetic self-expression, and it is described by its members as indispensable, with one member commenting: “I never knew how much I needed this space until it arrived. When we are feeling downtrodden, the group enable us to rise.”
Upon winning the award, A.R.M. founder, clinical professional lead for social work and Social work (M23) course lead, Shantel Thomas, said: “We cannot believe it! We started off with a seed, just an idea, providing a platform for black women in social work to think about our experiences in practice and the racial trauma that we’ve experienced. We started off online providing a space that we were free to be ourselves, and two years on, we’re about to host our first conference! We’re absolutely elated.”
The Social Justice Advocate Award was sponsored by Essex County Council. A spokesperson from the council commented: “Essex County Council is proud to sponsor the Social Worker of the Year Awards and have this year chosen to support the Social Justice Advocate Award. We would like to say well done to all who were shortlisted and extend our congratulations to the winner. As a cornerstone of Social Work practice, it’s a value we all hold very close to our hearts in this profession. This award reflects the kind of integrity and ethics that show why this vocation is critical to our communities and the people we work with across the Nation today.”
Our Chief Education and Training Office and Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Professor Mark Freestone, added: “I am absolutely delighted to see Shantel and the A.R.M. team’s well-deserved win at the Social Worker of the Year Award. Shantel is an inspiring colleague and teacher, and as the wider Trust moves towards becoming an Anti-Racist organisation it is humbling to see the work of our staff in this area being nationally recognised.”
Congratulations to Shantel and all members of the Anti-Racist Movement (A.R.M) on this achievement, and their hugely valuable work.