In recent years British social work has been characterised by an increasingly heavy emphasis on risk and, unfortunately, often a very rigid, defensive approach to the subject. Of course, the danger is that such an uncritical, unbalanced approach increases the chances of things going awry rather than actually reducing them. Meanwhile in the financial world it has arguably been the case that too loose and incautious an approach to risk by bankers and other key players was a key factor in the credit crunch and subsequent recession. So there is quite a significant irony there. Let us hope that we can now learn to adopt a more reasonable and realistic approach to risk in both the social work and economic spheres.

I have recently been involved in discussions about the importance of spirituality in social work. It has not surprised me that these days so many people are becoming quite enthusiastic about the potential for spirituality to help take social work forward once they realise how important spirituality is in people's lives (including the problems they face and the potential solutions available). I don't believe in panaceas, so I certainly don't see spirituality as one. However, I do see it as an important concept that can help us put the heart back into social work. I therefore hope that these conversations about spirituality will not only continue, but will also go from strength to strength.