Innovative children’s project receives visit from London officials 

Officials from the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and the Home Office recently visited Bridgend County Borough Council to observe first-hand the successful developments of a ground-breaking project supporting children affected by trauma.

The ‘Relationship Building Together’ (RBT) initiative is the first robust, large-scale evaluation of how services using the Trauma Recovery Model (TRM) can benefit those children who have experienced trauma.

Supported by a commissioned evaluation team from the University of Kent, the RBT scheme involves six teams within the local authority, working together with the All-Wales Forensic Adolescent Consultation Treatment Service (FACTS) – a department of the Children and Adolescent and Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

The aim of the project is to use a multiagency, collective approach to reveal and address the complex individual needs of each child who has endured trauma.  As part of the initiative, practitioners working with children are trained in TRM, enabling them to recognise and respond appropriately to children displaying signs of trauma.

The focus of the scheme is to offer early intervention, using the TRM, to those who have experienced trauma and investigate if it is pivotal in helping the child to avoid developing problematic behaviour, experiencing relationship difficulties and becoming involved with criminality – all of which are associated with adverse childhood experiences.  Organisational policies, procedures and practices have been adapted to support staff, ensuring that they can respond effectively, as well as build trusting relationships with the children involved.

Last year, the collaborative project secured £800k of funding to support its cause.  The RBT initiative was one of only four successful projects across England and Wales, and the only scheme in Wales, to secure funding through the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) via its Trauma-Informed Practice Funding Round, co-funded by the Home Office.

The YEF funds and evaluates projects across the UK that aim to gain knowledge of successful interventions to prevent children and young people becoming involved in violence.

During the visit to Bridgend, the facilities of Evergreen Hall supporting the project were showcased, offering officials the opportunity to view the trauma room, drop-in centre space, as well as the areas used by the art therapist and the speech and language therapist.  The visit allowed the Home Office and YEF colleagues to meet the professionals involved with the scheme and discuss how the TRM has impacted their practice, how it makes a difference with the children concerned, as well as the successes and challenges of the initiative to date.

Jake Grout-Smith, Programme and Impact Lead at the Youth Endowment Fund, said: “Congratulations to the whole Relationship Building Together team. Managing this project, in the context of a robust evaluation, requires a huge amount of multi-agency collaboration and coordination.  It is clear to see the passion and commitment that runs throughout the team, from the practitioners through to the senior managers.

“We recognise that a huge amount has already been done in trauma informed practices in Wales through the creation of the Trauma Informed Wales Framework, and this project will be of significant value in providing vital evaluation findings to fill the evidence gap we have around trauma-informed practices globally, and how we can best support young people to avoid involvement in violence.”

Councillor Martyn Jones, Cabinet Member for Education and Youth Services, said: “We are very proud to have an instrumental role in this ground-breaking evaluation, which could prove to be vital in protecting children from harm and leading a life of criminality at a later date.  It’s a project which has the potential to positively impact individual lives, as well as contribute to the overall health of the local and wider community.

“Working collaboratively, we can better support young people to overcome the complex challenges of trauma and thereby foster a more positive and resilient society.  Well done to all of those committed practitioners involved in the scheme, creating a pathway for children to overcome their adversity and have a more positive future.”