Edinburgh University Social Work Students do themselves, the uni and the profession proud !

We were delighted to host 14 Edinburgh University Social Work Students today as part of our on-going partnership to inspire the best of practice in community social work and showcase the power of social enterprise to transform the lives of our most vulnerable.

We didn’t just inspire them through talk – they heard the stories of our members and, better still, actively engaged in the project across our social enterprises and members programme including: woodwork, Tartan, the cafe and decorating our events space. We worked them hard and in their reflections with us at the end were nothing short of inspired and overwhelmingly impressed by the difference social enterprise makes. By volunteering alongside our members, our trainees and staff they gained valuable insight and people opened up to them, took care of them like any other member and taught them practical skills. It was highly beneficial to everyone involved and a special thanks goes out to our members across the project that welcome the students into the project, shared their experiences and gave up their time. Both groups learnt loads about eachother.

Today is the first of a three week partnership that will see all Community Social Work students experience first hand the ability of social enterprise to engage people and changes their lives as well as provide vital support services and activities that reduce people’s dependency and social isolation.