Welcome to the premiere of Season Five of How Does the Social Work?, the podcast that brings the “social” back into social work.
This new season opens with a compelling discussion featuring Hazel Masvikeni, a registered social worker practicing in health and social care in West Sussex, and Hilda Chehore, an experienced practitioner known for her compassion, resilience, and commitment to empowering individuals, families, and communities.
In this first episode, Hazel and Hilda reflect on their professional “journey from Zimbabwe” to the UK, offering a rich and honest account of what it means to relocate, requalify, and rebuild a social work career across borders. They explore the realities of cultural adaptation - from navigating new weather and unfamiliar accents to understanding different expectations around eye contact, timekeeping, and professional communication.
The conversation also sheds light on the professional transition from Zimbabwe’s primarily charity-based social work system to the UK’s legally driven, highly structured child protection environment. Both guests reflect on how deeply held cultural values - such as strong respect for elders - can make it challenging to challenge decisions made by managers or parents, a skill that becomes essential in UK practice.
A powerful moment in the episode comes when Hilda speaks candidly about experiencing workplace exclusion and racism, from social isolation to being denied resources routinely offered to less-experienced colleagues. These experiences ultimately motivated her to establish an organisation - originally ZUSA - providing mentorship through programmes like “Fly High” and building community through annual conferences that support internationally recruited social workers.
This opening episode also sets the stage for the wider vision of Season Five. Throughout the season, listeners will hear from international social workers who have moved to the UK from diverse countries around the world - many of whom now hold influential positions or have founded organisations dedicated to supporting other overseas practitioners. These conversations will explore their migration journeys, the barriers they encountered, the resilience they developed, and the strengths they bring to social work practice in the UK.
Season Five celebrates the courage, insight, and global perspectives that internationally recruited social workers contribute to the profession. As Hilda beautifully puts it, these practitioners are often “angels of mercy,” and Hazel reminds us of the enduring power of the communal, village-based approach to raising and safeguarding children.
To learn more about the organisation Hilda and Hazel have created and are running, please see here:
Professional Association for BME Social Workers - UKSWA CIC
