Edinburgh’s Trauma Ambassadors Network was set up over two years ago, forming a community of practice for colleagues to come together to share ideas, learning and practice on embedding a trauma-informed and responsive approach across services, systems and organisations.
The Network has approximately 140 participants representing a range of service areas including housing, early years, mental health (including child and adolescent mental health), social work, occupational therapy, psychology, justice and residential services from across the public and third sector.
The Network aims to provide space for colleagues to share learning, identify pain points and explore solutions, and to harness a collective voice to inform policy and decision-making processes.
The challenge
The Network provides colleagues with a nurturing, comfortable space to access peer support, shared learning and knowledge exchange. Previously, there had been a gap for colleagues across the public and third sector to engage in spaces such as this, and in turn the Network organically became an opportunity for those working to embed trauma-informed and responsive practice to make connections, share practice, and access peer support.
Outline of project
There has been regular attendance at each Network meeting (held every eight weeks), with at least 30 people attending each session to share practice and learning. The Network involves self-nominated trauma ambassadors ranging from frontline workers to those at various management levels, promoting a sense of shared and collective ownership over Network activities.
The meetings are intentionally informal, allowing the space to feel welcoming and inclusive. Before starting the meeting, the facilitator checks in with each participant, making the environment a comfortable space for those involved. During each meeting, spotlight conversations and reflective practice sessions are facilitated to foster a safe environment for knowledge exchange and generate ideas that participants can apply to their own local areas.
In addition to providing colleagues with an opportunity to make connections, engage in peer support and share practice, the Network has invited external guest speakers to attend meetings to facilitate short training sessions on specialist subjects related to a trauma-informed and responsive approach (i.e., self-harm training). This enables colleagues to build connections with external services/organisations, develop their knowledge and skills and explore with other Network members how this can be translated into practice, whilst also offering opportunities for colleagues to network, fostering greater collaboration.
Results
Network members have expressed the value of having these spaces in supporting the development and implementation of a trauma-informed approach within their own services and organisations.
A key output from the network included a risk assessment developed by the previous Trauma Lead Officer in post in collaboration with colleagues in residential children’s services. As a result, many organisations involved in the Network have adopted the risk assessment model into their own services/areas of practice.
Learning
The Network has had limited engagement with education services due to restricted capacity and teaching staff having conflicting schedules with meeting times. There were efforts to reschedule meetings to try and respond to this and maximise engagement which has enabled some education colleagues to engage in the Network, and there will be continued efforts to promote the Network to teaching staff in particular.
In addition, it was important to be responsive to people’s limited capacity and time to attend Network meetings whilst also balancing the need to bring together Network members regularly enough to maintain momentum and generate tangible ideas to drive forward implementation of a trauma-informed and responsive approach. In turn, the Network has explored ways to meet the needs of all members in offering more flexible meeting times to fit around schedules.
A key piece of learning is the need for dedicated resource to drive forward this work, support with coordination and facilitation of Network meetings, and maintain momentum. It was highlighted that having a central point of contact is integral to the success of the Network in providing a comfortable, nurturing space for members to reflect, engage in peer support, and share practice and learning. In order for the Network to continue to gain traction, membership and engagement, the coordination and management should be baked within a specific colleague(s) remit.
A key learning point that was noted while forming the network was the need for greater cross-sector ownership. Having participants from across different policy agendas, service areas and sectors supporting with the facilitation of meetings would generate a sense of collective ownership and promote the sharing of resources and practice to further enable partnership working and knowledge exchange.
Becky Whittaker
Email: Becky.Whittaker1@edinburgh.gov.uk