“Vulnerability is where your bravery and courage come from”

Eighteen years after first joining the social work field, Roisin Cartmill is still just as passionate about helping people.

The 52-year-old from Derry-Londonderry started as a classroom assistant, after gaining her childcare qualifications in her early twenties. From there, she became a playgroup supervisor, where she first realised her love for helping her community.

She explained: “The playgroup I worked in always partnered with local community events, which allowed me to get heavily involved with community development. I always loved doing things…people would describe me as an ‘action person’.”

Roisin’s self-esteem, however, played a part in her not seeing her own potential for a long time.

“I was a single mother at the time and I didn’t have a good self-image or confidence. However, I was very fortunate to have mentor-like relationships through the community development programmes I was involved in. It was those people who kept reminding me of my worth and my talent,” she said.

During her time as a playgroup supervisor, Roisin developed a parent programme, dedicated towards helping those who needed it. It was through this that she decided it was a good idea to go back to study.

“While I was doing this, everyone kept talking about how much I loved helping people, so once I was married I felt like it was the right time to go back to education and start to see myself how they all saw me. Social work course was the only path that felt right.”

The mum of two believes her childhood experiences all helped her want to build a career that would involve supporting others.

Speaking about her life, Roisin said: “Growing up, I had a really good community around me, which I think is partly the reason why I am now very passionate about community social work.

“I don’t have any regrets in any area of my life. If I hadn’t had the journey I had, then I wouldn’t be who I am today, and it may have taken a while, but I like who I am.”

Roisin is now a primary care social worker, operating out of a local GP surgery in Derry-Londonderry, a job which suits her completely as a lot of the focus is on community social work.

“We are here to promote the well-being of the patients within the surgery. It’s all primary care, we have a team of social workers and social worker assistants that work with other health professionals as part of a multidisciplinary team,” she explained.

“We do assessments with parents and schools, along with anxiety and memory work. It’s a great role to have.”

“We have a budget we can use for a training scheme. There are patients delivering our programmes to other patients. It’s a really good way to show you’re not a container for your problems, you are more than that. People want to give back, and we always see their potential. We have patients training in music therapy, art therapy and so much more.”

Although Roisin always wanted a role in community social work, she previously worked in a residential setting. It was there she found the importance of learning by doing, and building relationships with the people in your care.

“It was an absolute privilege to work in residential care. I discovered a lot about myself from the front-line work with teenagers who had their own trauma.”

The diversity of social work means Roisin was able to transition from residential social work to family response services when she felt she was ready for the change.

Explaining what this is, Roisin said: “When there were families in crisis or there was a potential of young people coming into care, I was their social worker. Most of our referrals would have come from family intervention social workers.

“There are a lot of myths about social workers not doing their research or just showing up to a job but it is not the case. We look at the whole family and all of the information to create a hypothesis which we can then take with us whenever we visit families. We always want to be respectful and know the details of the families we were visiting.”

It was during her time in family response services that Roisin helped set up a summer programme to help tackle the growing need for support during a family crisis.

“We needed to work out how to facilitate feeding and serving extra numbers. We set up a programme which involved renting a house for the summer. There was some resistance due to worry, but I knew from my experience in residential care it would be an amazing experience.”

The programme aimed to make sure families could still create good and fun memories together, despite any issues they had going on. It involved families taking beach trips and cooking together, with the support they needed.

As Roisin has been in social work for 18 years, she has managed to see first-hand the way things have changed over time.

“There have been many changes over the years to the way social work as a profession has grown, but I think there has been a definitive growth especially in community social work,” she said.

Roisin wants to make sure people who need social work support know they are getting the best help possible.

“Vulnerability is where your bravery and courage come from. If you think about yourself compassionately and respectfully and know this person is there to help you, then you are already at a good point to be at.”

In terms of advice for others pursuing social work, Roisin said, “Be honest and engage with the process.

“I have had moments where I have questioned why I am still in this job, but I am just as passionate about it as I was 18 years ago.”

For more information on how you can train to be a social worker in Northern Ireland check out our Interested in becoming a social worker? page.