Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career. It is part of Community Care’s ongoing Choose Social Work campaign, which aims to champion the brilliant work social workers do every day and inspire the next generation of practitioners.
In this entry, social work academy manager Helen Stanley celebrates Step Up to Social Work manager Charlene Stapleton, whom she describes as a leader who stands out for her "commitment, passion and inclusive approach".
Charlene is the Step Up to Social Work manager for the West Midlands region. The fast-track programme, which she manages with grace and integrity, is intense - it challenges students and tests their resilience. Throughout, Charlene has remained kind and humble, with a hands-on approach.
She is an excellent advocate for students and will always go above and beyond to support them to achieve the best and most equitable outcome. She liaises with academic leads, students, regional partners, experts by experience and the Department for Education to ensure the programme is co-ordinated and achieves good outcomes for all involved.
Charlene's social work values shine through in all her interactions. She supported me when I was struggling with the recent recruitment assessment process. Despite it being her day off, she rang me to offer support and talk me through the process.
She is approachable, humble and an excellent leader who stands out in relation to her commitment, passion and inclusive approach. Her can-do philosophy, positive energy and kindness inspire me daily. She deserves recognition.
How to nominate a colleague
You can nominate anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
*Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.*
If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.
