The event was a day of thought-provoking discussion on how to make trauma-informed meaningful for all of us: hearing more about the ongoing work to develop our public narrative and joining the movement toward a trauma-informed Wales.
In partnership with Wrexham University’s Children’s University, ACE Hub Wales hosted a full-day event dedicated to advancing Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (TrACE)-informed education in Wales. Centering the voices of children and young people, the event showcased their perspectives, priorities, and vision for what TrACE-informed practice truly means within schools and wider education settings.
The report and its findings will feed directly into the implementation of the Trauma-Informed Wales Practice Framework. The Framework, published in 2022, sets out five underpinning principles of a trauma-informed approach in Wales, including a commitment to being inclusive of the experiences of adversity and trauma in all our communities. The report contributes to an established body of work commissioned by ACE Hub Wales to support this commitment. The collection of studies considers how adversity and trauma is experienced by children and young people on the move in their home country, during the migration journey and in Wales.
The focus is on the many positive attributes children and young people demonstrate to overcome the impact of their experiences on mental and physical wellbeing; and the identification of person-centred support needed for improved health and social outcomes. The report also speaks directly to the Wales Safeguarding Procedures requirement of being child-centred and ensuring young people’s voices are heard.
Wales is taking the next step in its mission to build a truly anti-racist criminal justice system, with newly commissioned research outlining the realities faced by women, children and young people from ethnically diverse backgrounds and setting out practical recommendations for change.
The findings, published in the Racial Disparity in Pre-Court Diversion Report, highlight several factors contributing to the under-representation of ethnic minority people receiving Out of Court Resolutions, which means they may go on to receive heavier sentences. The research was carried out by Mark Jones, Director at Higher Plain and Honorary / Visiting Professor at Swansea University and University South Wales and reveals possible causes for racial disparity in accessing the criminal justice system, such as a lack of trust in the justice system and the need for more culturally competent services. It also calls for a nationally agreed model of anti-racist, trauma-informed practice across Wales. The report, which provides recommendations on how criminal justice agencies can work to increase the proportion of ethnic minority people accessing diversionary opportunities, builds on the Criminal Justice Anti-Racism Action Plan for Wales (2022), which is all part of a wider cross-government push to create an Anti-Racist Wales by 2030.
These new approaches aim to reduce the impact and trauma of arrest, promote restorative justice, and help individuals make positive life choices around education, employment, and wellbeing.
First launched in 2019, ACE Hub Wales’ flagship campaign — #TimeToBeKind — set out to promote kindness and build an “ACE aware Wales” by encouraging understanding and compassion toward people affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE).
Several years on, ACE Hub Wales is now co-leading work to become a trauma-informed nation with people and organisations across Wales. To help achieve the aim of a trauma-informed Wales, this phase of the campaign builds on the success of previous years by creating an emotionally charged TV advert that encourages a kinder, more compassionate society, so that everyone feels supported to thrive.
First launched in 2019, ACE Hub Wales’ flagship campaign — #TimeToBeKind — set out to promote kindness and build an “ACE aware Wales” by encouraging understanding and compassion toward people affected by Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE).
Several years on, ACE Hub Wales is now co-leading work to become a trauma-informed nation with people and organisations across Wales. To help achieve the aim of a trauma-informed Wales, this phase of the campaign builds on the success of previous years by creating an emotionally charged TV advert that encourages a kinder, more compassionate society, so that everyone feels supported to thrive.
Do You See My Trauma? The Lived Realities of Minority Ethnic People’ was commissioned by ACE Hub Wales to support the commitment made in the Criminal Justice Anti-Racist Action Plan for Wales to developing tools and resources to support organisations and people in Wales to be inclusive of racial trauma in implementing the Trauma and ACE-informed organisational toolkit. This powerful report documents daily reality for minority ethnic people in Wales of traumatic experiences in public spaces, education, accessing services and going about their day to day lives that cause harm and distress. It will directly inform work to meet the commitments of an anti-racist Wales by 2030, and to Wales becoming a trauma-informed nation that is inclusive of the experience of people in all of our communities. We are hugely grateful to Selima Bahadur, Dr Shela Khan and everyone at Ethnic Minorities and Youth Support Team (EYST) Wales who have helped to deliver this vital work, and we hope that it brings real action to prevent racial trauma and ensure appropriate support for those who do experience it that meets their needs.
This case study highlights the approach taken by a primary and secondary school in Wales towards becoming trauma and ACE-informed schools. Each school has embarked on their own journey and have used the ACE Hub Wales Trauma and ACE (TrACE)-informed Organisations Toolkit to reflect on, and learn from, their progress so far.
This independent evaluation, conducted by MEL Research provides key insights into the implementation of the TrACE Toolkit.
The Summary Report highlights the enabling contexts for successful implementation of the TrACE Toolkit in organisations and the Case Studies provide real life examples of the embedded trauma and ACE-informed practice.
Colleagues from ACE Hub Wales, Trauma-Informed Wales, the Violence Prevention Team, Wrexham University and Bangor University will collaboratively host two panel sessions, and two marketplace of ideas sessions will be offered.
A new initiative is using digital storytelling to explore and share the lived experiences of forced migrants in Wales. Led by academics from Aberystwyth University, the Welsh Pathway to Peace project has launched the first of its digital stories to mark World Refugee Day - June 20th 2025.
