Barnardo's has said it will offer specialist training to all of its staff and volunteers to support children with trauma
A charity has launched a drive to increase the support it offers on trauma.
Barnardo’s is launching a training programme for its 8,000 plus members of staff and 22,000 volunteers to understand the impact of trauma and adversity on children’s development.
In-house training will begin in the summer. Over the next three years the training will be rolled out to all regions and nations across the UK, through a combination of face to face sessions and e-learning.
This move is thought to be the first time in the UK an organisation of this size has ensured all paid and unpaid colleagues have access to trauma and adversity training.
It is part of the journey by the charity to become a trauma-informed and trauma-responsive organisation.
Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan said: “At Barnardo’s we believe good mental health and wellbeing is absolutely vital – for the young people we support, for parents and carers, for our staff, and for our volunteers.
“That means mental health has to be everyone’s business – it’s not just down to our frontline specialists.
“Across the charity we need to understand the impact of trauma on children and adults, so we can show compassion, empathy and understanding for our service users and our colleagues.
"I’m proud that Barnardo’s has made this pioneering commitment to invest in our staff so we can respond even more effectively to the thousands of children we support."
Senior leadership conferences are being delivered by Dr Karen Treisman, of Safe Hands and Thinking Minds training. Dr Treisman is a highly specialist clinical psychologist and an expert in the field of trauma and adversity.
She will be helping Barnardo’s to look at how it can create services, teams and systems which are trauma-informed and allow everyone to flourish.
Dr Treisman said: “Barnardo’s is a trailblazer in its exciting and ambitious plan to ensure all of its staff fully understand the impact of trauma and adversity.
“With Barnardo's size and geographical spread, it’s the largest organisation in the UK introducing such training, and ensuring trauma-informed and responsive values run throughout the organisation - for staff at all levels for the benefit of all the families they work with.”
