The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) has invited IFSW Europe to hold the 2020 Delegates Meeting in Birmingham, UK.
It was a unanimous decision by the members of the IFSW and the executive to accept this invitation.
Remembering that the global General Meeting is in July in Calgary, as well as other events in Europe, we accepted the proposal of BASW to hold the Delegates meeting on 24-26 April 2020!
2020 is the 50th birthday of BASW (www.basw.co.uk)
A major series of events are planned to celebrate the birthday and to promote the relevance of social work in the current world. If BASW is successful in its funding bids, it hopes to organise public exhibitions and events, a public-facing website and many professional activities. The launch of BASW in 1970 is linked with several other social policy developments at that time.
As IFSW Europe President, I met David N Jones (Chair of the BASW International Committee) in London in April and discussed the plans in detail. BASW is offering to host the Delegates Meeting and also to hold a one day international social work conference involving IFSW Europe delegates as speakers and workshop leaders alongside UK colleagues.
(Ana RADULESCU – IFSW Europe President)
IFSW has been a really important part of the history of BASW and we would love to involve IFSW Europe in our celebrations. We are thinking that it would be good to hold the event in Birmingham which is the headquarters of the Association. We would invite delegates to visit our ‘new’ HQ which is in a restored ‘listed’ (200 year old) building very close to the cathedral in the centre of the city. The meeting itself would be hosted at a conference venue.
(BASW https://www.basw.co.uk)
23 April 2020 – one day conference before the Delegates Meeting
We also plan to organise a one day conference before or after the meeting focusing on social work in Europe which the IFSW delegates would be invited to attend. We would hope to include speakers and workshops from IFSW Europe as well as national themes.
(BASW https://www.basw.co.uk)
About Birmingham
Birmingham has excellent communication facilities including an international airport with cheap flights from around Europe – only 10 minutes by rail from the city centre. There are also excellent rail and road links with trains to London taking around 90 minutes and fast buses to other airports. There are many good value hotels, a lively nightlife and many fascinating historic and touristic opportunities – for example Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-on-Avon is less than an hour away and museums of the industrial revolution are also nearby.
We feel sure that the City of Birmingham – which is probably the biggest local authority in Europe – would be pleased to welcome IFSW and support the meeting and there are several universities in the close area. Whatever happens with Brexit, the UK remains open and welcoming to our European friends and colleagues!’
(BASW https://www.basw.co.uk)
See you all our IFSW members in Birmingham!
Ana Radulescu – President of IFSW Europe
SAVE THE DATE:
- IFSW Europe Delegates Meeting in UK, Birmingham on 24-26 April 2020
- One day conference before the Delegates Meeting – 23 April 2020