Trauma Responsive in Greater Manchester

TRGM Conference 2026: Reflecting on Our Biggest Gathering Yet

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 11:48:47 GMT

TRGM Conference 2026: Reflecting on Our Biggest Gathering Yet

On Wednesday 25th March 2026, we welcomed colleagues, partners, community organisations, researchers, practitioners and leaders from across Greater Manchester to the Trauma Responsive GM Conference 2026 at the Bolton Wanderers Stadium. With over 700 people in attendance, it was our biggest and most energising conference to date — a powerful reminder of the collective commitment across Greater Manchester to build a more trauma responsive, compassionate and connected city region.

It was a chance to:

Reflect on the progress made across GM’s whole system approach
Hear from senior leaders, practitioners and lived experience voices
Share research, data and evaluation from universities and partners
Explore examples of trauma responsive practice from every locality
Connect, learn and recommit to this shared movement

Highlights from the Day

Our Chair Neil Evans, Executive Director for Safer & Stronger Communities at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) opened the day by reflecting on the growth of TRGM, the strength of cross sector collaboration, and the role of trauma responsive practice in shaping safer, healthier and more equitable communities.

The conference was shaped by a rich and diverse group of speakers who each brought depth, lived experience, evidence, and heartfelt insight to the programme. Our morning began with Professor Helen Lowey, Debbie Blackburn and Dr Paul Wallis, who collectively guided us through Greater Manchester’s seven year journey towards becoming trauma responsive. Their reflections on governance, whole system progress and the cultural shift across services set a powerful foundation for the day. They reminded us of how far GM has travelled — from initial ACE awareness work to today’s multi sector movement involving local authorities, health services, education settings, the VCSE sector and community partners.

We were then privileged to hear a keynote address from Professor Mark Bellis, whose talk From Harm to Hope explored the lifelong impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences and the compelling economic and human case for prevention. His session grounded the conference in evidence and reinforced the importance of resilience, relationships and public health approaches that work across the life course.

Later in the morning, we moved into a deeply powerful “Voices from the Community” segment. Contributors included, Dignfi, Salford Loaves & Fishes, Wigans Manbassador Programme and A Brilliant Thing CIC, who shared honest and heartfelt accounts of trauma, healing, community leadership and system navigation. Their stories — drawn from lived experience, grassroots practice and frontline delivery — reminded us that trauma responsive work must always begin with listening, compassion and connection. These voices were an anchor throughout the day.

The afternoon brought a rich panel discussion on trauma informed education, led by school and college leaders from across Greater Manchester. They spoke about what it truly means to embed trauma informed culture within education settings — from workforce training and safe environments to relational practice, supervision, leadership, belonging and improved outcomes for children and young people. Their experiences showed how profound the impact can be when schools embrace compassion, consistency and curiosity.

We were also joined by research teams from Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Salford, the University of Oxford and the University of Birmingham. Their presentations shared emerging evidence, evaluation findings and system level insights — helping us understand not just what works, but why it works, and where trauma responsive practice is having the greatest impact. This academic contribution is a key driver in maturing GM’s approach and ensuring our decisions remain informed by robust research.

Towards the end of the day, we once again returned to the voices of community partners — including Step Up Manchester, Rehab Fitness CIC, Inspirational Women, and Yaran Northwest and the launch of the GM Disclosure Guide. These speakers brought the conference back to the lived realities of people and communities across Greater Manchester. Their work spans peer support, neighbourhood initiatives, culturally responsive mental health support, community led therapy, women’s groups, recovery programmes and place based partnership approaches. Each contribution illustrated how trauma responsive practice is already transforming lives, and how essential local leadership remains in shaping solutions that feel safe, accessible and rooted in trust.

You can download presenter slides from the day here .

As the conference drew to a close, what resonated most strongly was the sense of collective momentum in the room — a shared understanding that this work does not end with a single event. Instead, the day marked another significant step forward in a long term movement across Greater Manchester. What has emerged over these seven years is not simply a programme or a set of initiatives, but a genuine cultural shift shaped by compassion, curiosity and human connection.

Reflecting on the day, our TRGM Conference and Exec Board Chair, Neil Evans shared:

“As I said in my opening remarks it is my privilege to chair the TRGM Executive, and it was also my privilege to host this brilliant conference and listen to the presentations, which I thought were all excellent and thought provoking. In particular it was heart warming to hear about the work of those grass roots organisations that is being delivered on the ground and clearly making a real difference in our communities. As I said at the end of the day, it is the responsibility of myself and colleagues to build on all that is taking place to ensure that responding to trauma, whether recent or historical is everyone’s business and we need to ensure it is further and fully embedded across our systems. The passion in the room was evident and this conference with such a large and engaged audience serves as springboard for us to go further and faster.”

Throughout the conference, it was clear that colleagues across every sector and neighbourhood are already carrying this work forward in meaningful ways — challenging outdated systems, dismantling stigma, creating safer and more supportive spaces, strengthening relationships and embedding trauma responsive practice into everyday culture. These efforts are not isolated pieces of work; they form a collective tapestry of change woven by practitioners, leaders, community organisations, lived experience voices and system partners working side by side.

What stood out above all was the honesty, kindness and commitment shown by everyone involved. Your willingness to share, reflect and stay open to learning is what makes this movement so powerful. It is also what gives real hope for what comes next.

We look forward to continuing this journey with you throughout 2026 and beyond. Thank you for being part of the TRGM community — for your belief in this agenda and for the compassion you bring to your work every day.

Launched: Trauma and Gambling Related Harms Toolkit for Professionals

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 16:41:58 GMT

Trauma and Gambling-Related Harms Toolkit for Professionals Launched

A joint initiative between Manchester's Public Health Department and Chapter One.

In the summer of 2025 Manchester City Council's Department of Public Health and Chapter One, a national gambling harm prevention organisation led by those with lived experience, launched a Trauma and Gambling-Related Harms Toolkit for Professionals . It provides professionals with the knowledge, skills and resources to support the people they work with who may be experiencing gambling related harms in a trauma informed manner.

Gambling is often framed as a form of entertainment, but for many, it becomes a way to escape from emotional pain. Behind the flashing lights and rush of risk, gambling can mirror the hidden cycles of trauma, both feeding and deepening psychological distress.

People who have experienced trauma, whether from childhood adversity, violence, or neglect, are statistically more vulnerable to developing gambling problems. The unpredictable nature of gambling mimics the unpredictability of traumatic experiences, reinforcing feelings of adrenaline and danger that once accompanied survival. For some, the gambling environment offers temporary relief from intrusive memories or emotional numbness, but it often replaces one source of pain with another.

Over time, financial losses, broken trust, and social isolation compound the emotional wounds that trauma left behind. The shame and secrecy that frequently accompany gambling addiction can revive old patterns of avoidance and self-blame. These layers of distress make it harder for individuals to seek support, keeping them trapped in a cycle of harm.

Addressing gambling-related harm through a trauma-informed lens means recognising that healing requires more than stopping the behaviour—it involves rebuilding safety, trust, and emotional regulation. Compassionate intervention, trauma-focused therapy, and community support networks can help people rediscover stability and meaning beyond the game of chance.

The toolkit Trauma and Gambling Related Harms Toolkit outlines the links between trauma and gambling harms. It also provides materials to support practitioners to feel confident in talking about gambling harms in a trauma informed way. With further sources of information and support for this is a valuable resource for practitioners.

Trauma Responsive Manchester newsletters from 2025

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 15:56:23 GMT

Trauma Responsive Manchester Newsletters 2025

A Collection of quarterly newsletters from the Manchester trauma responsive team.

It has been a busy year in Manchester which the Trau,ma Responsive Manchester (TRM) Newsletters from March, June, and September 2025 highlight. These newsletters cover Manchester’s ongoing trauma-informed initiatives and resources. Key themes include the development of trauma-responsive community projects, such as the Child Advocacy Centre co-designed with children, and the launch of toolkits for professionals addressing trauma, ACEs, and gambling-related harms.

The newsletters promote various training opportunities for professionals and early years practitioners, including free ACEs and trauma training, "Bonding Beginnings," and sessions on trauma and food insecurity. Addressing the long-term impact of Covid-19 on children, the effects of racism and violence on mental health, and the importance of nurturing and relational approaches in education.

Additional topics include support for mothers’ mental health, arts-based resilience projects, guidance for trans inclusion, and resources like the "Ghostbuster List" directory. The newsletters also feature calls for case studies, volunteer opportunities, and provide contact information for further engagement.

TRGM Evaluation Report June 2024

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 14:35:27 GMT

Evaluation of the ACES & Trauma Responsive Greater

Manchester Programme. Final Report – Phase 1

How a City-Region is Building Trauma-Responsive Communities

An evaluation by Liverpool John Moores University has revealed how Greater Manchester is undertaking a whole-system approach to becoming trauma-responsive, with early impacts across communities, workforces, and services.

The Challenge

Greater Manchester, home to 2.87 million people, faces substantial health inequalities. Over two-thirds of early deaths are linked to risky health behaviors, 25% of residents experience mental health issues, and significant deprivation affects many neighborhoods. The region recognized that addressing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and trauma required a coordinated, city-wide response.

The Vision

Launched in 2021, the ACEs & Trauma Responsive Greater Manchester Programme represents one of the UK's most ambitious attempts at system-wide cultural change. Rather than a traditional program, it's described as a "movement" aimed at transforming how every organization—from hospitals and schools to housing providers and community groups—understands and responds to trauma.

The programme's six core objectives:

Communication and engagement to create the right environment
Workforce development to build system-wide understanding
Evidence-based practice through mapping and best practice review
Service user involvement creating a grassroots social movement
Service development to improve policies and change culture
Community resilience building through neighborhood-level work

Training Impact

The evaluation tracked significant improvements in workforce knowledge and confidence. Training participants showed substantial gains in understanding trauma's impact, with confidence levels in trauma-informed practice jumping dramatically. Over 2,000 professionals received training at different levels, from basic awareness to specialist skills.

Most importantly, 72% of trainees reported using their new knowledge in practice within four months, demonstrating real behavior change beyond the training room.

System-Wide Transformation

The programme has catalyzed extensive activity across all ten Greater Manchester boroughs:

In Education: Schools are implementing trauma-informed approaches, with early evidence of reduced exclusions and improved attendance in pilot areas.
In Healthcare: GP practices and hospitals are adopting trauma-responsive policies, with staff better equipped to recognize and respond to trauma disclosures.
In Communities: Voluntary sector organizations received funding to develop co-produced training with people with lived experience, creating authentic resources that resonate with both professionals and service users.

Real-World Impact

Service users reported feeling safer, more understood, and better supported. One participant described training sessions as "brilliant to bring us all together" with participants forming lasting support networks. Professionals noted they could now recognize trauma responses they previously saw as "noncompliance" or "obstructive behavior."

Challenges and Learning

The evaluation acknowledges significant barriers:

Resource constraints: Overstretched services struggling with increasing demand
Definitional clarity: Confusion between trauma-aware, informed, and responsive approaches
Scale complexity: Coordinating change across such a large, diverse region
Sustainability concerns: Maintaining momentum without dedicated funding

Looking Forward

Despite challenges, stakeholders remain committed to the vision. The programme has created new partnerships, shared learning networks, and embedded trauma-responsive principles in local strategies. However, continued investment and strategic support are essential for long-term success.

Key Recommendations

The evaluation identifies crucial next steps:

Maintain strategic leadership commitment across the region
Continue equitable training opportunities for all sectors
Strengthen community voice and co-production approaches
Develop shared language and clear trauma-responsive principles
Embed trauma-responsive approaches in commissioning and policy
Provide ongoing workforce support and supervision

While challenges remain, the evaluation demonstrates that coordinated, multi-sector approaches can create meaningful culture change at scale.

The programme shows that becoming trauma-responsive isn't about adding new services—it's about fundamentally changing how existing services understand and respond to the people they serve. This represents a paradigm shift from asking "What's wrong with you?" to "What happened to you?"

As one stakeholder noted:

"This is a journey that we're all going to be on and it'll probably morph and change... where we're at now is not going to be where we're at in 2-3 years' time, but that's OK."

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter December 2024

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 20:28:56 GMT

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter December 2024.

This newsletter highlights some of our key achievements through 2024 and what's coming up.

Thank you for all your support over the last 12 months. We have been able to achieve so much by

working together. Our achievements have included:

Welcoming our new ACEs and Trauma Project Manager Elena Vacca to the Public Health Team.
Training over 1,300 people this year! We are also developing plans for a level 2 training course and some bitesize webinars.
Manchester Action on Street Health (MASH) have developed and delivered 10 bespoke trauma training sessions with their service user advisory panel ‘Sue’s Space’ to a range of organisations including probation, the police, shelter, Angels of Hope, Coffee4Craig and many more.
Working with partners to establish the Trauma and Sexual Violence Network. You can read more about this in our Annual Health Scrutiny Report .

We could not have achieved all of this without your support. We hope you have a great break and a happy 2025!

Read the Newsletter here .

Manchester City Council and Adult Social Work

Sat, 30 Nov 2024 15:51:18 GMT

Manchester City Council's Adults Social Care and Rough Sleepers Team Produce New Resources.

In the latter part of 2024 Manchester City Council's Adult Social Care service developed resources to support practitioners, and others, to respond through a trauma infofrmed lens.

One of these resources came out of work completed with Adult Social Care as part of the Better Outcomes Better Lives transformation programme. Working with colleagues in Adult Social Care a one-page aide memoire for practitioners to support them in their work.

Additionally, Ellie Atkins, Manager & Safeguarding Lead for the Rough Sleepers Social Work Team at MCC, has produced a three part vidoe series regarding truama and rough sleeping.

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter September 2024

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 16:40:35 GMT

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter September 2024.

September's Trauma Responsive Manchester newsletter highlights include:

The Manchester Measuring Inequalities Toolkit was produced as part of the Making Manchester Fairer Programme by the University of Manchester in partnership with the Manchester City Council Department of Public Health. This online course is designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of inequality measurements.

Bonding Beginnings is a new one-day training course available to anyone working with families in the early years. The course is free of charge and delivered by the NHS. It is a one-day level 2 course which focuses on the first 1001 critical days (pregnancy to 2 years) of a child’s life.

There is currently a public consultation to inform whether or not to extend the citywide alcohol consumption public space protection order (PSPO) for a further 3 years. The consultation is open for 4 weeks and closes on 11 October 2024.

Read the Newsletter here .

An Invitation to Shape Trauma Informed Care with the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 07:52:26 GMT

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMH) deliver our services from over 109 locations across the North West of England. Our vision is to be a leading provider of services, with a trauma-informed focus of care, for our service users, carers, staff, and partners.

GMMH continue to develop our workforce to recognise the impact of trauma, enabling our teams to respond in ways that will improve recovery and avoid re-traumatisation.

All staff receive initial training at induction, ensuring they understand the importance and value of a trauma-informed care (TIC) approach within their daily practice, as well as their health and well-being.

Our Trust is committed to the consideration of trauma-informed practice at every level of engagement, both internally and with our external partners as part of the Trauma Responsive Greater Manchester network.

Our Living Well multiagency teams continue to evaluate and redesign services, ensuring they are co-produced, in alignment with the guiding principles of a trauma-informed approach, adapting the language we use and how we deliver services.

Within our community transformation programme, we are working with the people who use our services, carers, our colleagues, and other support organisations, to transform community mental health services across Greater Manchester. The transformation programme focuses on codesign, coproduction and codelivery, with people with lived experience, and their carers.

Our Capital, Estates & Facilities teams have worked collaboratively, to design a modern mental health unit at North View. This will support the transformation of adult mental health care, across North and Central Manchester. The building, which replaces Park House, has been designed using the latest technology and therapeutic techniques. This NHS investment in our communities enables services to be delivered in an environment conducive to holistic treatment and recovery.

With the appointment of a dedicated Trauma Informed Care Lead, the Trust is continuing to work closely with organisations across Greater Manchester, and the UK. We continue to research best practices, to enable us to embed trauma-informed principles throughout our vision, values, strategy, policies, staff development programmes and Trust processes.

The Trust have formed a Trauma Informed Care (TIC) strategy and working group, supported by reference groups, which include representation from patients, service users, carers, staff, and our external partners. These groups support the development of our TIC strategy, embedding a whole Trust approach, to design, delivery, and continuous improvement.

GMMH see TIC as everyone's business, and like safeguarding, we aim to ensure the principles are embedded throughout our organisation. Co-production with service users, carers, staff, and our GM partners, needs to be at the heart of system change, for organisations and our wider society.

We welcome the opportunity to work alongside Trauma Responsive GM, as together we are stronger, within our workplaces and communities.

If you are a current GMMH service user or a staff member and would like to get involved, please contact our TIC Lead Amanda Smith at: amandakathryn.smith@gmmh.nhs.uk

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter July 2024

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 20:28:57 GMT

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter December 2024.

This newsletter highlights some of the work and events that have been happening in Manchester. In this newsletter is:

Trauma and Gambling Harms: Public Health are working with Gambling with Lives and the GMCA to develop a Trauma Toolkit for practitioners.
Theraputic Approaches Through Youth Sport: Led by Street Games , a national a day to bring networks together from Sport, Youth work, Youth Social Prescribing & Mental Health. It focused on building on and further embedding trauma informed and responsive approaches via guest speakers, workshops, best practice, connectivity and space for reflection.
Manchester Art Gallery’s Families of the World project creates space for families with under 5’s seeking sanctuary in Manchester.
On 2nd July MADE's Health and Wellbeing group hosted an event to celebrate the work of school students and creative providers across the city.
Unicef Friendly City: UNICEF UK’s Child Friendly Cities programme works with councils to put children’s rights into practice.

Along with these updates is a link to an interesting article outline some strategies that teachers can use to help students explore joy, sadness, fear, anger and disgust. In addition to open acess training for professionals about ACEs.

Read the Newsletter here .

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter June 2024

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:27:11 GMT

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter June 2024.

Since March there has been a lot of activity across Manchester. July's Trauma Responsive Manchester newsletter captures this. Some of the highlights include:

The Captain’s Leg Theatre Company is proud to present a new play with an all female cast. The play is based upon women’s real life stories of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and how this has

impacted their mental health.

Public Health are working with Gambling with Lives and the GMCA to develop a Trauma and

Gambling harms Toolkit for practitioners.

Theraputic approaches through sport. An event was held in March, led by Street Games a national sport for development charity, aimed to bring networks together from Sport, Youth work, Youth Social Prescribing & Mental Health. It focused on building on and further embedding trauma informed and responsive approaches via guest speakers, workshops, best practice, connectivity and space for reflection.

Read the Newsletter here .

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter March 2024

Tue, 12 Mar 2024 16:18:06 GMT

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter March 2024.

The year began with the Adverse Childhood Experience and Trauma Responsive Movement across Greater Manchester conference in partnership with the Violence Reduction Unit. The conference saw an amazing 500 attendees listen to a day full of inspiring presentations from a wide range of organisations.

We heard about the amazing work that has been happening across Greater Manchester to achieve our goal of being an ACE and trauma responsive city-region. We learnt how grassroot expertise is leading the way in shifting thinking and how our public and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE) sector across Greater Manchester is making changes to ensure we shift behaviour and respond to people’s needs.

Gareth Nixon (ACEs and Trauma Lead) and Lizzie Hughes (Integrated Neighbourhood Lead) spoke of the great trauma responsive work taking place in the Cheetham and Crumpsall community.

We also heard from people with lived experience on how trauma has impacted them, what has helped them, and how we can mitigate such experiences.

Read the Newsletter here .

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter December 2023

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 16:52:03 GMT

Trauma Responsive Manchester News Letter December 2023.

This newsletter highlights some of our key achievements and what's coming up.

We have been working with MADE (Manchester's Cultural Education Partnership) on a project with four schools and four creative providers using a trauma informed lens.

Co-op Academy New Islington primary school became the first school in Manchester to be a Trauma

Informed Schools UK accredited school

The Art of Resilience project started working with Manchester Art Gallery and aims to teach principles around the concept of resilience and protective factors to primary age children through arts and creativity using a trauma-informed approach.

A bespoke ACEs and trauma training package has been developed with Manchester Adult Social Care (ASC) and is being rolled out to all staff across the city.

Read the Newsletter here .

Spread The Word! New Trauma Informed Care E-Learning

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 19:08:11 GMT

NHS England’s e-learning for healthcare and Mental Health team have worked together to develop a new e-learning programme about trauma-informed care.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a growing need for health and care professionals to understand the dynamics and impact of trauma on the lives of individuals, families and communities.

Whilst embedding trauma-informed care requires a systematic multi-faceted approach, the aim of this programme is to support the learner in deepening their understanding of the importance of becoming more trauma-sensitive in the way care is delivered, both as an individual and within a team or service.

The programme, which is aimed at frontline health and care professionals, emergency services colleagues, violence reduction units and education staff, consists of 5 modules:

Human Development and Responses to Threat
What Do We Mean by Trauma?
Basic Awareness, Concepts and Challenges
Public Health and Prevention, Personal Capacity
Making Trauma-Informed Approaches Part of Healthcare

On completion of the programme, learners will have a greater understanding of trauma and its impact on the lives of everyone who encounters services, including those who work within it. It will help learners to recognise and sensitively respond to people who have experienced trauma.

For more information and to access the resource, please visit the Trauma Informed Care programme page . Please also look out for our posts on Twitter @NHSE_TEL and help us to share the message where you can.

Becoming Trauma Informed in Education - A podcast

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 14:22:32 GMT

Becomoing Trauma Informed in Education - A podcast

An enriching discussion amongs educators on the journey to becoming trauma informed within colleges. Listen: Trauma Project Podcast

Richard Caufiled is joined by other education colleagues, Julia, Bill, Jeremy in this insightful, reflective discussion about their learning and experience and identividual journies to becoming trauma informed.

Covering the value of having a shared language, awareness raising, staff development and training, the importance of collaboration with reflections of system wide change.

When you have about 40 mins this is worth a listen.

The Journey Of Recovery: Supporting young people overcoming trauma

183:901964052 (Steve Brock) — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 14:01:21 GMT

The Journey of Recovery: Supporting young people overcoming trauma.

The animation is an introduction to trauma and recovery and has been developed to support educational professionals in understanding and supporting students who have been affected by trauma.

This freely available resource, aimed at those working in education, helps open up discussion about trauma with young people. A result of efforts working with clinician, teachers and young people this resource was helped through the The We Love Manchester Emergency Fund (WLMEF).

You can read more about this and access the video and printed resources here .

Making a Real Difference

websitebuilder@1and1.de — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 17:48:54 GMT

Seven organisations have used grant funding to make a real difference to Greater Manchester’s trauma responsive capabilities.

Funding for Change

The Greater Manchester Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Trauma Responsive Communities grants (GM TRC grants) were launched in July 2022 to support and develop partnerships, resilience and trauma and ACE-responsive VCSE provision. Funding was earmarked for extra grants to successful projects which bid in round one.

Award Winning, Life Changing

Well done to Back on Track for winning an award for their trauma informed work.

Based in Swan Street, Manchester, the charity enables people to make positive changes that last, whether it’s managing problematic drug/alcohol use, living a crime-free life, improving mental health and wellbeing, or finding a stable home.

Their award-winning project brought together a group of 12 Back on Track members who have experienced trauma. They used their experiences to come up with a set of guidelines for support services. Their insights are now being used to train other organisations in becoming trauma responsive, meaning people who use services should get a better experience in the future.

Back on Track won an award for this course at the annual Manchester Adult Education and Skills Plan Event in June and has now been granted extra funding from the Greater Manchester Trauma Project.

They will use the money to train another 16 VCSE organisations and work with

people with lived experience of trauma to co-produce an information booklet and web page on childhood trauma and its impact in adult life.

Faith Organisations Become Trauma Aware

Eighteen faith and VCSE organisations have changed their practice thank to work with Greater Manchester Together (GTM).

GTM was awarded funding from the Greater Manchester Trauma Project to develop trauma-aware training and create a network of organisations, so they didn’t feel alone in supporting service users with experience of trauma.

As a result, GTM has changed its own practices – making physical spaces trauma informed, including ones not owned by the organisation, reviewing processes and redrafting client facing promotional materials, the code of conduct, rules and next steps information with volunteers who have personal experience of homelessness and

GTM has already offered training to 45 VCSE organisations and has been awarded extra funding to roll that out to 15 more, as well as continuing to develop its community of practice.

Proposal for additional funding – October 2022-March 2023

Changes made

Early Break Developing & Delivering Training

Working with Salford CVS, Early Break used their funding to develop and deliver training in raising awareness of trauma. Twenty participants from the VCSE sector, and housing attended.

In Bury, Early Break have worked with existing VCSE networks to embed trauma-responsiveness and awareness in terms of reference for the networks and ensure the lived-experience of service users is included in network meetings. It has led to changes in promotional materials, the development of resources for teachers and education staff and QR codes for young people to easily get mental health support around exam time.

The extra grant will fund more training in both areas and cover staff time to further develop the trauma responsiveness and awareness work.

Mapping Our Assets

Beyond Barriers was awarded funding to develop a network of VCSE organisations in Trafford that create welcoming, trauma-sensitive environments, create a tool for asset mapping which 10 local organisations will use and develop training.

They have involved people with lived experience who shared their experience of barriers to getting help and ideas for improvement and this work is on-going.

Beyond Barriers have also benefited from Plymouth’s experience and consultation with the Plymouth Trauma Network.

They are now using their extra funding to work on healthy high streets, helping high street businesses to make them trauma sensitive and avoid triggering trauma for customers, creating a map of trauma-sensitive providers for residents and growing the network.

Trauma Friendly Charter

Big Life received funding to develop a trauma-friendly charter for VCSE organisations and carry out service reviews with senior leaders of organisations and volunteers with lived experience.

Work on the charter is progressing and will include input from adults with lived experience and children. The work also suggested small adjustments which could be made such as using gender-neutral terms, allowing clients choice and control over where and when they are seen, ensuring environments are not chaotic and using plain English and avoiding jargon.

The service reviews, which are strengths based, are helping organisations see what they are already doing well and identify outcomes and practical next steps. Big Life will use its extra funding to continue this work.

A Community of Practice: Connection, Collaboration, Compassion

websitebuilder@1and1.de — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 17:48:54 GMT

A place to share great ideas, successes, knowledge and tap into peer support. .

What is the Community of Practice?

A private space to connect with colleagues, discuss challenges and find solutions together.

Connecting

The Community of Practice helps build connections between localities and across services by creating a forum for opportunities to engage in discussion, share resources and knowledge with others across sectors and localities. Brining together those working in Helath, Social Justice, Social Care, Education, Voluntary sector and others with a shared understanding to create a trauma responsive Greater Manchester.

Collaborati ng

With the help, support and wisdom of others there is ample opportunity for collaboration and creatively to thrive amongst professionals. Whether it is supporting individuals in your community, or seeking to get a project up and running, the community of practice may have resources to offer. At the heart of the community of practice is encouragement for collaboration, to empower a network of trauma responsive professionals.

Celebrating

The work we do can be both challenging and highly rewarding. The Community of Practice is a place to celebrate achievement, share learning and share resources. Each effort that leads Greater Manchester toward being more trauma responsive should be acknolwedged and celebrated. Whether this is having success connecting with someone on an individual, or, a policy change that impacts many. These achievements and learning must be celebrated. The community of practice is the place to share these achievements.

Joining the Community of Practice?

Everyone who has attended a Trauma Responsive Greater Manchester training is invited to the community of practice. As the Trauma Responsive GM Community of Practice grows opportunites to join this triving community will grow as well.

Feature: Stressed Out Brain

websitebuilder@1and1.de — Wed, 21 Dec 2022 17:48:54 GMT

Stressed Out Brain is the title of a new animated poem, workbook, training and resources developed by teenagers for peer and professional use.

The poem explains the how the fight or flight stress response may not switch off in those exposed to adverse childhood experiences but that young people can learn new ways to cope without turning to drink or drugs. It’s backed up with a workbook for young people and training for professionals in using the resources in their day-to-day practice.

Professional training on using the resources is now available in Salford and will be available across the rest of Greater Manchester from January. Training dates will be advertised on Local Safeguarding Board websites and via www.earlybreak.co.uk and participants will be able to take the film and workbooks back to their agencies.

It’s the result of a collaboration between Salford Community Safety Partnership, substance misuse charity Early Break, charity Salford Foundation, Salford Youth Justice service and academics from Edge Hill and Manchester Metropolitan universities.

Early Break director Janine Day said the project is aimed at building resilience skills in young people and steering them away from alcohol or drug use which could exacerbate problems in their lives.

“Contributing to this project has helped the young people who took part understand there are better ways to cope and using alcohol or drugs can lead to even more problems,” she said.

“Young people were at the centre of the project from the very start and came up with the idea of an animation to engage other young people. Using a trauma-informed approach workers discussed the challenges of adolescence, their views on substance misuse, including cannabinoids and crime and what interventions, skills and resources helped them cope and build resilience and which might do the same for other young people.”

For more information about booking onto workshops please email info@earlybreak.co.uk using the subject heading Stressed Out Brain.

You can view a 30 second clip of the film here https://vimeo.com/758542291

(please use password EARLYBREAK)