Presents for social workers?

[Letshopeitsallok]

We go to celebration hearing in a couple of weeks. I want to buy a gift for LO’s social worker who has been fantastic. Honestly I can’t praise her enough.

I wanted to get her a small bracelet that costs £13. It has a symbol on that is significant to LO. H says social workers aren’t allowed to accept gifts. He said flowers or chocolates would be ok.

What do you think?

A decent bunch of flowers and box of chocs would cost more than £13 and are still gifts.

Your DH is right, public servants aren't allowed to accept gifts but the rules are in place to prevent bribery and corruption. I think £13 would probably fall below the threshhold for declaration, its really not significant in monetary terms.

I'm sure it would be fine.

Congratulations!

Cool have ordered it and will give it discreetly. I think she’ll really appreciate it.

She’s been such a support (where our own SWs have been a bit rubbish), I’m really going to miss her.

We got our SW a small present and flowers. He was amazing.

We bought a bracelet with a charm that represented a family. It felt really significant to us to give that to her and was appreciated. X

I know mine wasn’t, she worked very hard to support us through a complex approval process, going over and above the call of duty.

I’m a social worker.
We have to declare all gifts over £5. Anything over £5 non perishable has to be donated to the council raffle (for charity)
Anything perishable over £5 we are supposed to share with the team.
Under £5 we can keep (mostly)

It’s a shit rule but my local authority are VERY strict about it, it’s awful, one social worker in my team had a client knit her a baby cardigan when she went on mat leave, she’s was devastated thinking she might have to give it up.

This saddens me. I hope ours was able to keep it, she bought presents for LO on Celebration Hearing and his birthday which coincided with her final visit (post AO) so it seemed fair to do the same for her.

Ah well I gave SW the bracelet and small box of chocs. Hope she was able to keep them. She did say the chocs would get eaten on the train in the way home! She gave us a photo frame and a box of chocs and DD a squishy toy so it seems like gifts were appropriate.

Celebration hearing went really well. It was very quick, literally 11 minutes! (I happened to look at my watch on way in and out). So that's it! We're officially a family :)

I'm a social worker too and I have been allowed to keep gifts so long as I declare them, never been an issue.
Another difference between LAs 

We were allowed to keep small gifts of relatively low value. Examples given were a pen or picture frame . Flowers and chocolates were ok too and people would usually share edibles with the team.

The timing of gifts was also an issue, as expensive gifts given at the beginning could be seen as a bribe. Whereas small gifts at the end of a professional relationship ( like the OP) were ok.

I’m glad to hear that your gifts were well received OP and congratulations!