[A] local group of parents, teachers and childcare professionals are aiming to revolutionise the way Cumbria thinks about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and mental health in an ambitious bid to become one of the UK’s first “ACEs aware- trauma-informed communities”.
The CUMBRIA RESILIENCE PROJECT have already received interest and support for their plans from a wide range of local services, including schools, health centres, disability groups and youth services. Their social media forum has grown to more than 270 members in just a few months.
The group crowd-funded to raise the money to obtain a licence that would enable them to show a free film entitled RESILIENCE – The Biology of stress and the science of hope free across Cumbria over the next 2 years. The film shoes how researchers have recently discovered a dangerous biological syndrome caused by abuse and neglect during childhood. As the documentary Resilience reveals, toxic stress can trigger hormones that wreak havoc on the brains and bodies of children, putting them at a greater risk for disease, homelessness, prison time, and early death. While the broader impacts of poverty worsen the risk, no segment of society is immune. Resilience, however, also chronicles the dawn of a movement that is determined to fight back. Trailblazers in paediatrics, education, and social welfare are using cutting-edge science and field-tested therapies to protect children from the insidious effects of toxic stress—and the dark legacy of a childhood that no child would choose.
Several local businesses have sponsored events which have already taken place in Penrith, Carlisle, Workington and Barrow. The group has free film screenings organised in the coming months taking place at the Rheged Discovery Centre Penrith, The Brewery Arts Centre in Kendal, The Wordsworth Trust Centre in Grasmere and many more across Cumbria.
“ACEs awareness and Trauma-informed approaches” focus on an understanding of how traumatic incidents in a young person’s life, described as adverse childhood experiences – for example, abuse, neglect or witnessing violence – can affect their brain, and how to adjust your response accordingly.
This knowledge has been integrated into various services across the UK and Ireland, from Ayrshire and South Wales Police forces to schools in Blackburn and Darwen and plans for a cross-border project in Ireland.
But the CUMBRIA RESILIENCE PROJECT want to go one step further. Aiming to replicate the success of places across the USA and Canada, they want to spread this knowledge amongst all frontline staff and communities in CUMBRIA creating a whole-community approach to mental health.
Many members of the group have themselves survived trauma caused by adverse childhood experiences and say they are dedicated to the goal of helping Cumbria become an ACEs aware trauma informed region.
The CUMBRIA RESILIENCE PROJECT is one of many groups across the UK looking to change the way that local services and communities view behaviour and mental health.
Experience from across North America and the UK shows that becoming ACEs aware and trauma-informed can enable schools to better deal with disruptive students and help prisons more effectively rehabilitate offenders, amongst other benefits. Research shows that the impact of trauma on the brain can substantial.
The group is inviting people to join their ACEs Cumbria Forum on social media: https://www.facebook.com/groups/acescumbria
The group also have a resource and information website: http://www.adversechildhoodexperiences.co.uk/
