Key Partners

HCL Social Care, a division of HCL Workforce Solutions, has been the UK’s leading supplier of qualified social workers and social care professionals for over 20 years. HCL’s partnership with VCF is based on a shared commitment to promoting best practice in children’s social care.

HCL’s Managing Director, Gary Chatfield is clear about the responsibility of HCL Social Care to continually enhance the reputation of social workers in the sector. “We aim to achieve this with an unwavering commitment to providing Continuing Professional Development to all our locums. Our consultants build strong relationships with our candidates which enables us to be confident we are placing the best people for the job. We are excited about our partnership with VCF because the work they undertake is so closely linked to what we strive to offer our clients and candidates”

Commenting on the partnership, VCF Director, Mor Dioum said “we are delighted that VCF has been chosen as HCL Social Care’s charity partner for 2014. Together we can progress our aims to raise the profile of good social care practice through proper selection and training of staff at all levels, to achieve more positive outcomes for children and families”

For VCF, good social work is at the heart of – and enhances – the child protection system, and a key driver for long-term best practice is getting recruitment right, alongside opportunities to address and maintain development needs for all practitioners, particularly locum staff who can bring a consistent approach across boroughs and local authorities with whom they work, through ongoing training built into HCL's recruitment package.

Mothertongue multi ethnic counselling service was established in 2000 to provide culturally and lingistically sensitive counselling to black and minority ethnic (BME) communities in their preferred language.

Mothertongue partnered with VCF for a roundtable discussion entitled 'Multilingualism and misunderstandings for children in care' at Parliament on 14 October 2014 which posed the question: Are we effectively considering the relevance of cultural and linguistic heritage within child protection when making decisions in the best interest of the child?

VCF - The Victoria Climbié Foundation and Mothertongue are committed to working together to ensure that language matters in a safeguarding context are attended to appropriately to achieve best outcomes for children and families.

Connect with Mothertongue online

‘Every Child Matters in the Caribbean’ is a joint initiative between The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK (VCF) and One Step Forward Consultancy (OSFC) – a UK-based social work company.

Every Child Matters is one of the most important policy initiatives and development programmes in relation to children and children’s services of the last decade, and has been described as a ‘sea-change’ to the children and families agenda leading to the UK Children Act 2004.

Commenting on the initiative, VCF Co-Founder and Director, Mor Dioum is delighted to be taking the spirit of 'every child matters’ to the Caribbean. “In OSFC, we have found a partner organisation with whom we can work to ensure that the rights and protection of every child are applied across Caribbean countries, and that those with the responsibility to protect these children are fully supported and motivated to achieve their aims.”

Citing the Victoria Climbié tragedy in London in 2000 and Peter Connolly (Baby P) seven years later, OSFC Managing Director, Patricia Mckenzie-Thomas told stakeholders at a media event in March, abuse of children is something that she witnesses each day as a social worker. “There is no distinction of colour, age, culture, class or financial status.” She added "the matter of safeguarding children is still a work in progress for many countries.No country has got it right in terms of safeguarding children. Some countries are doing better but some need shared resources and supportive working practices and knowledge as seen in and around the Caribbean."

VCF – The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK offers an independent environment to the Centre for Social Work Research and together we provide research to influence policies and practice for the benefit of practitioners.

The Centre for Social Work Research at The University of East London offers a unique voice on the work of The Victoria Climbié Foundation UK, with whom it has worked since 2008, helping to articulate VCF’s community leadership role, and early help and prevention work with children and families.