Social work in Kensington and Chelsea

If you think you know Kensington and Chelsea. Think again. Well heeled, high profile and fashionable, certainly. But the reality is rather more complex with extremes of poverty and affluence.

If you think Kensington and Chelsea stops at Knightsbridge. You may be surprised. The borough stretches from Chelsea in the South to the Harrow Road in the North and includes well-known areas such as Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove, the King's Road, Knightsbridge and Earls Court. It is also home to Notting Hill Carnival.

We have a unique mix of cultural groups including Moroccan, Portuguese and Somalian communities
There are over 90 different languages spoken in the Borough
There are high numbers of asylum seekers
40 per cent of our children entitled to free school meals
We have some of the country's most deprived wards
We have all the challenges you'd find in any inner city area plus a few more of our own.

What does this mean for a social worker?

The diversity gives rise to diverse needs amongst our service users and varied caseloads but there are also other advantages. The borough is well resourced with community based voluntary and statutory services that support various communities in the borough.

Our services and staff were praised as being ‘in the vanguard of good practice’ as was our highly effective use of IT and the premium placed on supporting and developing staff.