About Us

Return to Social Work Practice - Adults Social Care (voluntary unpaid placement)

Voluntary – unpaid

36 hours per week

Objective of role  

*Voluntary unpaid placement opportunity*

Inspired by the idea of returning to your career in Social Work?

If you were previously a registered Social Worker and you’ve ever thought about returning to practice, now is the time to do it.

We understand that during the course of your career, you may not practise your profession for a period of time. This may be for many reasons, which could include parental leave, extended travel, caring responsibilities or illness. We are pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for you to return to practice within our Wandsworth Locality teams.

About the role 

To return to the register, Social Work England requires you to carry out a period of updating which includes a combination of private study, formal study and supervised practice. The length of your updating period will depend on how long you have been out of practice. We can offer you supervised practice to support you with completing your return to practice. For further information and to find out the exact requirements please visit on Social Work England's website,

If you successfully complete your return to practice, we can guarantee you an interview to join our Adult Social Care Service in a permanent position.

We can also offer placements for newly qualified Social Workers who are registered with SWE but haven’t been able to secure an ASYE position. This will enable you to gain experience working alongside a front-line team and we will guarantee you an interview for the next Richmond and Wandsworth ASYE programme

For an informal discussion and more information about this opportunity please contact Ozan Fitton-Brown at Ozan.Fitton-Brown@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

We offer a range of benefits including:

• Flexible working hours to suit your lifestyle for example early start - early finish.
• Compressed working hours for example spread your fortnightly working hours over 9 working days and have a day off every other week
• Working from home
• Working autonomously and being in control of your own diary
• Generous training offer and regular support
• Varied and interesting caseload
• 36 hour working week with a generous holiday allowance of 40 days annual leave including bank holidays 

Essential Qualifications, Skills and Experience

• Social Work qualification 
• Social Work registration is not required.

Closing Date: Sunday 22nd March 2026

Shortlisting Date: W/C Monday 23rd March 2026

Interview Date: TBC

We may close this vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Richmond & Wandsworth Better Service Partnership are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services. 

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer. If you require any reasonable adjustments

throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know. 

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Some posts may be exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to these posts will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils