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This qualitative organisational ethnography explores and analyses the ways in which a local government-provided volunteer telephone support program for vulnerable and older members of the community quickly adapted to continue working during the pandemic. Thematic analysis of data collected through researcher participation in 26 weekly zoom debrief sessions with local government staff and volunteers captures the experience of providing telephone support during a pandemic. Three key themes emerged as integral to the shaping and reshaping of the service: (1) the importance of care and relationships in service provision; (2) the need for flexibility to make service change; and (3) like a beating heart, the regular calls became part of the rhythm of life, providing certainty for staff, volunteers, and those they called. This program offers a model for best practice in low cost, low risk, place-based interventions that can increase social connection for vulnerable community members. IMPLICATIONS Organisational flexibility and a focus on care and relationships underpin best-practice human service delivery—this is emphasised in times of crisis. Volunteer engagement, commitment, and performance are enhanced by positive and caring relationships with paid staff. Befriending schemes can provide a vital means of social support that contributes to maintaining the health and wellbeing of the ageing population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social worker–client relationship practice has always been and remains central to contemporary social work purpose and identity. The professional "helping relationship" can and does enable change and alleviate distress. Nevertheless, what happens in social worker–client relationships remains unclear warranting research attention. This article reports on a qualitative study that explored the lived experience of social worker–client relationships with 16 social workers employed in child and family welfare services in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Findings confirmed the centrality of social worker–client relationships for achieving client outcomes and revealed a distinctive practice approach where the social worker–client relationship is seen as the workspace for the intervention, and the social worker acts as relationship-building agent. Overall this constitutes a distinctive practice approach perhaps usefully described as social work relationship praxis (SWRP). The findings are discussed with reference to the literature and implications for research, practice, and education are outlined. IMPLICATIONS This study valorises the centrality of the social worker–client relationship for achieving client outcomes. A relational paradigm needs to be elevated in social work education to prepare students for practicing relationally. Development of social work practice theory needs to embrace relational views of "the self". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]