We began January 2022 hosting reflections by the outstanding Dr Nadine Burke Harris on the trauma of COVID-19.
As that online event demonstrated, the pandemic has been a huge influence on how we all communicate, as well as on mental and physical health.
Also that month, we were proud to profile the Open Narrative System (ONS) for Trauma-informed Implementation.
On 23-25 March, Three Evenings on Racial Trauma and Growth was an online event promoted by the London ACEs Hub Racial Justice Workgroup in collaboration with Trauma-Informed Schools UK. We are grateful to Trauma-Informed Schools UK for enabling us to show an excellent film, and the speakers rose to the occasion with their powerful arguments and reflections on:
At the same time, the impact of poverty on families became even more apparent - a news theme sadly growing over the rest of the year.
The remarkable surge of ‘climate anxiety’ among young people was evidenced in our April edition.
In June, in collaboration with the Open Narrative System, we were privileged to host a superb ‘sold-out’ webinar on Trauma-informed System Change, with memorable contributions from speakers with vast professional and lived experience.
In the same month, the bulletin continued its regular focus on lived experience, with more testimony.
October featured another LAH webinar, From Adversity to Confidence: Young people and practitioners speak out, coinciding with Black History Month, in which young people excelled in giving insights and encouragement.
The Hub also launched our ACE-Aware and Trauma-Informed Safeguarding Policy & Procedures, a unique initiative to raise awareness of the importance of these principles and knowledge when addressing sensitive matters that have such a significant impact on children, young people, adults, families and our communities.
In November, we returned to COVID, linking to a report on attachment and trauma awareness training in schools.
Connecting up
Throughout the year, it has been our intention to show the connections between public and private issues, between shared and individual stresses, and to emphasise how only concerted strategies can mitigate them.
We hope that by regularly featuring news, information and events in our monthly newsletters, we can help keep ACEs, trauma, and resilience at the forefront of attention.
While the standard news outlets never fail to report catastrophes, they often fail to assess their significance for lifelong experiences of struggle, crisis, and recovery; only with an appreciation of ACEs, can the depth and scope of those impacts be understood and, in due time, properly challenged making our relationships and communities healthier and safer for everyone.
In the coming year, we have exciting plans for new events and initiatives: watch out for announcements in the next editions and on the LAH website!
See you all in 2023!!