Trauma-Informed Work in Communities

We invested more than £150,000 in 8 Leeds Community Organisations through Trauma-Informed Work in Communities in 2022. The programme is a partnership with Volition at Forum Central and the Integrated Care Board at Leeds.

 

What is the Trauma-Informed Work in Communities programme? 

Established in 2022, Trauma-Informed Work in Communities aims to boost protective factors in children and young people who have experienced, or are at risk of experiencing, adversity. The focus is on Community Organisations working with children, young people and families to promote strong, healthy relationships through activities that support the development of relationship skills and pro-social skills. 

 

What are trauma-informed approaches? 

Trauma-informed approaches are based on the recognition, and a comprehensive understanding of, the widespread prevalence and effects of trauma. This leads to a fundamental shift from thinking “what is wrong with you?” to considering “what happened to you?”. 

“Rather than being a specific service or set of rules, trauma-informed approaches are a process of organisational change, aiming to create environments and relationships that promote recovery and prevent re-traumatisation.” – Sweeney et al (2018). 

 

What are the headline outcomes from the programme so far? 

Most of the projects are delivering groups and associated activities with young people across a range of ages.. The people they’re working with have a variety of life experiences, such as care experienced young people, young women and young people of marginalised genders, or young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Activities are also varied, from play work and family support, to learning circus skills and vocational training. 

So far, more than 310 children and young people have been supported through these activities. 189 have reported increased interpersonal skills like social and communication skill. 169 say they’re more confident and have better self-esteem. 

 

Meet Basis Yorkshire 

Basis Yorkshire provides information, services and support to young people and women who are, or have been, sexually exploited. They also work with indoor and street-based sex workers. 

They’re using their Trauma-Informed Work in Communities grant to deliver a peer support group for young women survivors of exploitation. The group provides a safe, trauma-informed space for survivors to come together to reduce isolation. The young women decide how they want to be communicated with, and all sessions are built around their needs and interests to enable them to own the group and empower them. 

Basis Yorkshire said “For many survivors of exploitation and other forms of child sexual abuse they can feel very isolated in their experiences and this can further compound the low self-esteem and self-worth many survivors report feeling. Providing a safe, trauma-informed space where survivors can be together enables these feelings of isolation to lessen. 

To further strengthen this, the group will focus on activities that are therapeutic in nature (arts, craft etc.) but will also allow them the opportunity to explore how they can use their experiences and views to influence change in Leeds and wider.” 

 

What’s next for the programme? 

The 8 organisations funded through Trauma-Informed Work in Communities in 2022, and a further 3 organisations funded in 2023 to work specifically with minoritised ethnic communities, will continue their activities over the coming year. We look forward to sharing more of the outcomes and impact from the programme once grants are complete, in 2025.