Pulling together in Perth and Kinross: Celebrating World Social Work Day

Laura from Perth and Kinross HSCP shares how we can celebrate World Social Work Day through the lens of 'What Matters To You?'.

World Social Work Day (WSWD) 2026 offered Perth & Kinross a powerful opportunity to reflect on what truly matters to practitioners, students, partners and communities. This year’s theme, “Co‑Building Hope and Harmony: A Harambee Call to Unite a Divided Society,” closely aligns with the What Matters to You? approach championed across the area with support from the ALLIANCE and wider partners. Both philosophies ask us to slow down, listen deeply and work together in ways that honour people’s strengths, experiences and aspirations.

Across Perth & Kinross, Stirling, Fife, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire Councils, Stirling University and our third-sector partners – including Perth and Kinross Independent Advocacy, PKAVS and Tayside Council on Alcohol – this year’s celebrations centred on understanding what matters to individuals, families and the practitioners who support them. The Local Learning Partnership has curated a week‑long programme that honours compassion, co‑production and the belief that relationships sit at the heart of good social work.

This reflects the principles embedded in our local What Matters to You? approach; people thrive when they are heard, valued and supported in ways that reflect their unique contexts and hopes.

A major highlight is the creation of a digital celebration hub on PK Learning & Development that I supported to design. The hub has brought together reflections, videos and appreciation messages centred on the question “What Matters to You in Social Work?”. Frontline practitioners from Children and Families, Adults, Justice and community services shared honest, heartfelt stories about the values that guide their work – hope, connection, belonging and pulling together to make a difference. Their words illustrate how social work is shaped not only by policy and practice frameworks, but by relationships, trust and human connection.

Students and Newly Qualified Social Workers reflect on “Pulling Together in Practice” by sharing the moments that mattered most in their early careers; being welcomed into teams, learning collaboratively, and seeing the impact of small, compassionate acts. Practice educators have helped to link these experiences back to Scotland’s social work values and the What Matters to You? approach that is increasingly shaping local practice.

Colleagues also nominated peers whose practice reflects what matters most to them – whether that was compassion, humour, unity, or creativity. These messages reinforce that what matters to social workers is often simple but profound: being seen, being supported, and making a difference.

WSWD 2026 coincided with the launch of the National Social Work Agency (NSWA), a major step in strengthening professional leadership, learning, workforce planning and national strategy. For local practitioners, this signalled a national commitment to listening – ensuring that what matters to the workforce shapes future reform.

Perth & Kinross will continue to build on this momentum by:

• Developing the digital hub into a year‑round space for learning and sharing
• Embedding What Matters to You? and Harambee in reflective practice and leadership
• Encouraging practitioners and students to contribute to NSWA activity
• Sharing our collaborative, story‑driven approach with other areas

WSWD 2026 reminded us that what matters to people is at the heart of strong social work. In Perth & Kinross, we pulled together – embodying both Harambee and the spirit of What Matters to You?.

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