Tackling Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences in Trafford


Reducing the occurrence and impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and understanding their influence on health outcomes and wellbeing, is crucial. In Trafford, a range of work is underway to raise awareness across sectors about the impact of trauma on health, education, and life outcomes, and to equip our workforces to take a trauma-informed approach.


Key Initiatives in Trafford


  • The Belong Programme: Trafford’s flagship attachment and trauma-responsive network of schools, currently embedded in 27 schools. The programme includes:


  • Whole school training and psychological input
  • Support for both staff and students
  • Postgraduate qualifications for two leaders per school, enabling action research
  • Half-termly support networks
  • Clinical supervision from psychologists to support implementation.
    Initial outcomes include improved attendance, better wellbeing for staff and pupils, and reduced call-outs, suspensions, and exclusions.

 

  • ‘Living Well’ Service: Offers short-term mental health support for people in the gap between primary and secondary mental health care. The service is moving towards becoming fully trauma-informed. Find out more here.


  • Children’s Mental Health Teams: Recognises that lived experiences are central to emotional health and wellbeing, and key to understanding emerging mental health issues. 


  • Greater Manchester’s i-THRIVE Programme: Supports system change to improve the understanding of the impact of trauma and embed relational and trauma-informed responses in services, for young people’s mental health.

 

  • Achieve (Alcohol and Substance Misuse Service): Designed to embed trauma-responsive approaches, particularly for people experiencing the co-occurring conditions of both mental health and addiction issues. Find out more here.


  • Trafford Domestic Abuse Services & Trafford Rape Crisis: Delivers trauma-responsive training for practitioners, school staff and wider organisations, as well as specialist therapeutic support programmes for service users and at-risk families. Find out more here.


  • Trafford Community Collective: Leads work to support, promote and build a trauma-sensitive culture across the VCFSE (voluntary, community, faith, and social enterprise) mental health network in Trafford. Find out more here.


  • Trafford Safeguarding Partnership: Has set partnership goals across both children’s and adults’ safeguarding work to create a trauma-informed workforce and reduce systemic trauma. Find out more here.