A very inspirational story being told as our last episode of the ‘Care to chat?’ podcast for 2025. One area of social work practice we don’t often hear about is community development.
This episode examines at one specific community development initiative in the Northern Health and Social Care Trust focused on supporting ethnic minorities and migrant communities, especially people seeking asylum when they first arrive in Northern Ireland.
We hear in the news about ethnic minorities, people seeking asylum and migrants in our communities – but there are real people behind these stories and it’s important to hear and really listen to what they have to say.
When it comes to people seeking asylum this often includes improving opportunities for engagement, integration and connection to community and local services, whilst supporting the development of skills, knowledge, talents, creativity and strengths of people seeking asylum. All in an effort to encourage a sense of belonging, connectedness, address loneliness, social isolation and the mental health of asylum seekers.
Host Dr Wendy Austin MBE is joined by Megan who from Iran and seeking asylum in Northern Ireland whose named has been anonymised to protect her identify, supported by interpreter Mehdi Hooshmand, Clare McGrath, Principal Practitioner for Ethnic Minorities and New Entrants, Northern Health and Social Care Trust, and Christine Dunlop, a community volunteer from the Presbyterian church, who helped to welcome Megan to Northern Ireland.
In this emotional episode, our panel together explain how we need to greet people seeking asylum with compassion rather than fear, and the real people who together support people seeking safety, whilst challenging the misinformation and perceptions of people seeking asylum in our community – and instead see the talents and diversity they bring.
Talking about her experience Megan said:
“Most of the immigrants here, maybe they had a very good life in their countries, but they were forced to flee their countries and immigrate here and they have to accept the new situation here. I’m very well now because of their [Christine and Clare] support, because I can share my feelings here and I have to say thank you for their support and help.”
An episode not to be missed!
The Social Care Council releases a new episode every fortnight, discussing current topics about social care and social work regulation in Northern Ireland. Download, subscribe and listen to the latest Social Care Council ‘Care to chat?’ podcast episode today here, or by searching ‘Care to chat’ in your podcast player.
An end to another great season of Care to chat!
A big thank you to all the Social Care Council ‘Care to chat?’ podcast listeners for your continued support We will return with lots more important conversations in social care and social work in 2026. Have an idea for a future episode? Contact us on comms@niscc.hscni.net with your suggestions.
Download, subscribe and listen to this episode and previous episodes today here, or by searching ‘Care to chat’ in your podcast player.
Episode 11: How social work is supporting diverse communities in Northern Ireland – (31 minutes)
For more information:
As the Care to chat podcasts are designed with the social care and social work workforce in mind, we would like to invite suggestions of topics that our listeners would be interested to hear covered. If you have questions, suggestions or feedback about the podcast, email: comms@niscc.hscni.net.