Trauma Informed Lancashire workshops

Becoming Trauma Informed Lancashire

Trauma is recognised as a profound and global public health crisis.

The pervasive and harmful impact of traumatic experiences on individuals, families, and communities and the inadvertent but widespread re-traumatisation of children and adults within the system has made it essential to rethink ‘how we do business’. As front-line practitioners and professionals working across the wider system, we have a responsibility to act on this.

A tendency to focus on the presenting symptoms such as violence or substance ‘abuse’ has led to huge human and economic costs to society. Now, more than ever, there is a need to tackle the impact of trauma and focus on how public systems can support people in preventing and recovering from traumatic events. Only by working together, across systems and with communities, will we reduce the complex and interconnected social determinants and inequalities which drive trauma.

A Pan-Lancashire pledge

The senior leaders of organisations across the Pan-Lancashire footprint have already committed to a pledge of investing in the development of Trauma Informed Lancashire. This encompasses the collective practice of understanding human experiences of the children, families and communities of Lancashire, responding to such experiences and addressing the causes of the causes rather than just the presenting behaviours.

Cross-sector learning to support trauma informed service development

Lancashire Violence Reduction Network’s ‘Becoming a Trauma Informed Lancashire’ workshops aim to cultivate collective, cross-sector learning to support the ongoing development of trauma informed services. Workshops are being rolled out across the Pan-Lancashire footprint to people working in:

• children’s social care
• health
• education
• probation
• non-statutory organisations.

The workshops support the collective goal of a system wide approach that examines new ways of identifying adults who have experienced multiple childhood traumas and puts support in place with the right families much earlier to prevent the negative cycle of inter-generational problems.