EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR HULL GRADUATE

A social worker who showed “good sense and shining commitment” in her first court case has won an excellence award from Westminster Council.

Dawn Ainley (26), who graduated from the Hull School of Health and Social Care with a degree in Social Work, works in the Marylebone Family Support team.

She has been involved in a lengthy and complex set of care proceedings which concluded in a court hearing where she had to give evidence for two days.

The judge in the case made special mention of Dawn’s practice, commenting on “her good sense and shining commitment” to the child involved in the case.

As a result of Dawn’s excellent verbal evidence, in what was her first experience of giving evidence in court, the judge was able to make a decision which went against the expert evidence and upheld the council’s care plan.

She has since been presented with Westminster Council’s Quarterly Excellence Award worth £1,000 and her name now goes forward for an annual prize worth £10,000.

“Dawn’s commitment to focusing on the needs of the child, her hard work in supporting the mother, her determination, her honesty and her ability to overcome her own personal fears produced an outcome that has made a profound difference to the life of a young child,” said a spokesperson for Westminster Council.

Dawn is pictured receiving her award from Michael O'Connor, Director of Children and Families Social Services at Westminster Council.