Professor Mark Bellis
Director of Policy and International Health, WHO Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health & Well-being

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) including maltreatment and exposure to household stressors can impact the health of children. Community factors that provide support, friendship and opportunities for development may build children’s resilience and protect them against some harmful impacts of ACEs. In this opening keynote speech, Professor Bellis draws on his extensive research into ACEs and shares the importance of building resilience.

Nominator: High Sheriff, Helen Lovatt
Awarded to: The Nelson Trust

The Nelson Trust was nominated by High Sheriff, Helen Lovatt for an outstanding contribution to addressing ACEs, supporting adults who have experienced ACEs and building resilience in others. In her nomination, the High Sheriff commended The Nelson Trust for its trauma informed and strength-based collaborative approach.

0950 Mark Bellis ACE & Resilience

Beth Hughes – The Nelson Trust

Beth Hughes has worked in the field of addiction and trauma for over 8 years and passionately believes that given the right support people can gain healing and freedom from past hurts and make meaningful changes in their lives.

In this session, Beth helps us understand how as practitioners, trusted adults and colleagues we must identify and manage trauma and stress responses in ourselves, when working with individuals with multiple and complex needs.

She guides us through an exploration of stress and stress management, and gives us tools for our own wellbeing, resilience and self-care.

Presentation

Wellbeing, Resilience & Self care- ACES Conference

Other sources of information

https://olgaphoenix.com/self-care-wheel/
https://www.advantageperformance.com/4-quadrants-psychological-safety/

Molly Macleod, Restorative Practice Service Lead, Gloucestershire County Council

James Saunders, Inclusion Strategy & Relationship Manager, Gloucestershire County Council

Juliette Ttofa, Chartered Educational Psychologist, HCPC Registered Professional Psychologist and Registered Sand Play Therapist.

Samantha James, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Coordinator, Gloucestershire County Council

In this session, leading practitioners share stories of how Restorative Practice, Trauma Informed Approaches and ACEs has enabled us to start a system of culture change in individuals, schools and communities. This session begins with Molly Macleod, Restorative Practice Service Lead, Gloucestershire County Council sharing her ‘why’ in passionately leading Restorative Practice for the county.

She is followed by Samantha James, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) Coordinator, Gloucestershire County Council who explains how resilience triumphs over adversity and the importance of one safe person.

In addressing the final piece of the trifecta speaks Juliette Ttofa, Chartered Educational Psychologist, HCPC Registered Professional Psychologist and Registered Sand Play Therapist; who explains why being trauma informed as individuals but also as communities is so important to surviving and thriving. James Saunders, Inclusion Strategy & Relationship Manager, Gloucestershire County Council concludes with an overview of the work being done around Gloucestershire and the system being set up to support children and young people across the County.

For Restorative Practice

Mitigating the Effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences How Restorative Practices in Schools Support Positive Childhood Experiences and Protective

Restorative Practice in Gloucestershire evaluation

The Restorative Lab Restorative Practice Evidence Report for Gloucestershire County Council

Recommended Reading for Restorative Practice

For Resiliency Enabling Approaches in Children and Young People

Useful Reading on Trauma and Resilience

Resiliency Enabling Approaches for Childen – Bibliography REACH Course

The Conditions for Growth-The REACH Handbook-Ttofa 2021 (Final)

Jaz Ampaw-Farr
Resilience ninja, educator, author and founder of the charity Everyday Heroes

In our final keynote, Jaz Ampaw-Farr , Resilience ninja, educator, author and founder of the charity Everyday Heroes, tells her story of growing up in the midst of appalling poverty, trauma and hardship and the five ‘everyday heroes’, whose belief in her literally saved her life.

Professor Sarah Scott, Executive Director of Adult Social Care & Public Health
– Gloucestershire County Council

Professor Sarah Scott closes the conference. She shares her hopes and ambitions for the continuation of the Action on ACEs Gloucestershire social movement.

Mark is the Head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health and Well-being and WHO UK Focal Point for Violence and Injury Prevention.

Mark has undertaken substantive work in the fields of violence prevention, alcohol, drugs and sexual health. As well as international work with WHO, Professor Bellis has also worked as an advisor to organisations including; United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.

He has published over 200 academic papers and more than 250 applied public health reports and books. The current pandemic has resulted in much of Mark’s time being taken up addressing COVID-19 issues. However, he continues to head an on-going research programme examining Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and their impact on health and behaviour across the life course.

Beth Hughes has worked in the field of addiction and trauma for over 8 years and passionately believes that given the right support people can gain healing and freedom from past hurts and make meaningful changes in their lives.

Beth has a passion for working with women and has worked in a gender responsive, trauma informed residential treatment setting for the past 7 years and has worked both in front line roles and in managerial positions delivering evidence based programmes and delivering both internal and external training on becoming trauma informed and delivering staff well being training and support.

After completing her teaching qualification in 1996, Molly decided to pursue a career working alongside disadvantaged and vulnerable young people. Knowing school to be a protective factor for most pupils, she has always been keen to understand why some are so disengaged from their education.

Molly is passionate about equitability, inclusion and enabling everyone to have a voice. She was introduced to Restorative Practice in 2016 and quickly gained an affinity with its ethos and principles. Since then, she has been working alongside a number of schools within Gloucestershire; implementing Restorative Approaches to support their inclusion offer and enable young people to re-engage in their learning.

Over the last few years it has become apparent to Molly that for some, the ability to fully engage in Restorative Practice relies on those around them having a better understanding the impact of trauma and ACES on behaviour. As a result, Molly is currently working with Schools, health and education professionals to develop a Trauma Informed Relational Approach for the county

James studied for a Sports Science degree before embarking on a career in Playwork that saw him practice, qualify and deliver adult education, then going on to contribute to the development of the national occupational standards for Playworkers.

In 2009 James Joined Bracknell Forest Council where he led on development and Inclusion initiatives for the Early Years and Childcare workforce, this ignited a passion for Early Intervention that saw him move to Gloucestershire County council where he worked as an Early Help Team Manager. It was in this role that James was introduced to the idea of Restorative Practice, and later the concepts of ACE’s Aware and Trauma Informed Relational Practice that gave a common language and framework for the work that he had been driving for two decades.

Today James leads on the strategy and development of multi-agency agenda’s across the Education and Inclusion landscapes in Gloucestershire, with a particular emphasis on the importance of relationships as the catalyst for change. 

Juliette Ttofa is a specialist Educational Psychologist and Sandplay Therapist with over 20 years experience working with children and young people. She specialises in the area of social, emotional and mental health needs, especially developmental trauma, attachment and resilience.

Juliette began her career as a secondary school history teacher in Oxford where she became interested in how best to support young people with emotional needs in education settings. This led onto her research into the key protective factors that buffer vulnerable young people from adversity and increase their long-term emotional resilience, including the role of Nurture Groups and whole-school nurturing approaches.

Juliette is now known for her county-wide role in developing a shared understanding of trauma informed, attachment aware and resiliency enabling approaches in schools in Gloucestershire. She is passionate about using creative approaches such as Sandplay Therapy to assist children and young people in their recovery from traumatic life experiences and spends part of her week working therapeutically with young people.

Juliette has two children of her own and is the author of several published books about social-emotional wellbeing and resilience.

After a career as a Solicitor, Sam completed her PGCE in 2007/2008 and secured a job in Children’s Services with Gloucestershire County Council. Sam has recently acquired the role of ACEs Coordinator for the County working alongside, Police, Education, Health and Social Care Colleagues as well as the Voluntary Community Sector.

Keen to understand the psychology behind childhood trauma as well as the impact throughout the life course, Sam embarked on a MSc in Psychology in 2019/2020, the focus of her dissertation being Adverse Childhood Experiences.

Sam is a keen advocate of relational practice, strengths based approaches and inclusion as well as building resilience in all communities.

It would be easy to say, ‘You’ve never met anyone like Jaz before’. Her passion for the potential we can uncover in ourselves when we are just 10% braver and her insight into how to remove the barriers that hinder connection between us and those we seek to influence make Jaz one of those people you will never forget.

Jaz’s story is one of growing up in the midst of most appalling abuse, poverty and hardship during which she encountered five teachers (and, importantly, one pimp) whose belief in her literally saved her life.

There are many messages leaders take away from listening to Jaz as she shares her story across the UK, in the US (where she’s being called ‘The British Oprah’!) and elsewhere. Clearly, the impact that we have to transform lives comes through loud and clear but there is more to it than just that. Jaz also embodies the idea of bravery and the willingness to be defined by what you’ve tried even if you fail, rather than by what you could have done.

Both her (very) brief stint on TV’s The Apprentice and her career as a stand up comedian are good examples of this. And she shows that a human being can be subject to the worst depravities of her fellow humans and not only survive, but thrive – and do so without anger or bitterness.

It is true, we are not our stories, and Jaz shares ideas and insights from her life in her work with leaders, educators, parents and young people with humour, energy, honesty and an unswerving optimism in people and in authentic connection in particular.

Full of practical advice, her message is neatly summed up in her own words to those five teachers from her past and the title of her best selling book – ‘Because Of You – This Is Me’ CrownHouse Publishing – available on Amazon.

Tom has been working in education and community development for 20 years. He has worked in London, Bradford, Oxford and Leeds in both independent and state schools.

He has held a range of senior management roles and been responsible for training both staff and children in restorative practice.

Chantel Yeates has been a teacher for 20 years both abroad and within the UK. She completed a Masters in Educational Leadership with specific focus on Inclusive Education. Taking the roles of both Pastoral and Academic Deputy Head Teacher, Chantel has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in all areas of school life in primary and secondary settings and more recently in Special Educational Needs.

With an interest in child psychology, Chantel has helped to create diverse curriculum areas that ensure pupils make progress whilst keeping well being of pupils at the centre.

Over the years Chantel has worked alongside teachers of all ages to develop teaching and learning that ensures all pupils can access the curriculum and excel.

Chantel Yeates has been a teacher for 20 years both abroad and within the UK. She completed a Masters in Educational Leadership with specific focus on Inclusive Education. Taking the roles of both Pastoral and Academic Deputy Head Teacher, Chantel has gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in all areas of school life in primary and secondary settings and more recently in Special Educational Needs.

With an interest in child psychology, Chantel has helped to create diverse curriculum areas that ensure pupils make progress whilst keeping well being of pupils at the centre.

Over the years Chantel has worked alongside teachers of all ages to develop teaching and learning that ensures all pupils can access the curriculum and excel.

Charlotte Blanch has been in education for 19 years and a Primary school leader for 8 of those, in two very different schools (one with 60% Pupil Premium and one with over 50% multi-lingual learners).

Over these years Charlotte has been striving for her whole school community to understand the importance of children and families feeling safe, being able to be themselves, expressing their needs in many wondrous ways and learning all about the behaviours that society, in its many forms, expects of them…..alongside learning the National Curriculum! In her schools, Relational, Therapeutic, Restorative and Trauma-informed Practice are central to the culture of the school.

Charlotte has a passion for helping every child and family be the best they can be, irrespective of the experiences they bring to their learning, with the task of building relationships paramount to all other work. This is an ongoing journey of constant connection-making for Charlotte, her school and every member of the school community but it is one that has incredible outcomes and can be achieved by all people who share this passion. The journey has many highs and lows so far but surely that’s expected when we’re in the business of changing lives!

Charlotte has worked in care and education for over 15 years. Her own school experience lay foundations for wanting to promote change in teaching and helped her to build a firm belief of inclusion in education. With a desire to support vulnerable learners, Charlotte worked in a number of primary schools in the South West and quickly discovered the benefits of interweaving, what she now knows as, a relational approach throughout her teaching practice. This journey has led her back to her home county and to work at Gloucestershire County Council supporting schools to implement relational cultures.

During Gayle’s 21 year career she has predominantly worked in schools which serve a high demographic of disadvantage and vulnerable children and families: from Liverpool to Gloucester and now Cheltenham. In doing so she has gained a wealth of knowledge and understanding of how best to ensure that all children and families receive a high quality education and access to a range of services which support their individual needs. On entering her first headship she knew exactly what I wanted to achieve, to transform a school to be fully inclusive, have excellent relationships with families and the wider community whilst gaining excellent outcomes for all our children.

Deeply invested in Trauma Informed Practices, ACES and Restorative Practices to ensure children receive equitable opportunities to succeed. These aspects, as well as a value led approach, underpin everything we do at Gloucester Road Nursery and Primary School.

Prior to joining the The Door team in 2011 Victoria worked as an International Leadership Development Consultant where she spent over 20 years developing leaders in the private sector, both in the UK and internationally. The focus of her work was to facilitate leaders’ in their personal journey to create nurturing and supportive workplaces.

Since joining the team she has followed her passion for supporting young people and families and became CEO at The Door earlier this year. Her main focus is to provide strategic leadership for the charity and oversee its operational delivery, ensuring that all services from youth clubs and youth mentoring, to parent support and family work are well served. She is excited to bring her own style of leadership to every part of The Door’s delivery, focusing the team on being servant hearted and dedicated to supporting the most vulnerable to increase their resilience in the face of adversity.

Victoria joined the Action on ACEs strategy panel in 2019, wanting to contribute to the movement in whatever way she could after recognising the importance and urgency of this work. She brings to the panel up to date lived experience of supporting families and young people via the charity she leads and is dedicated to shining a light on the value of working to understand the factors influencing vulnerability together with the need to focus on building resilience to improve outcomes for all.

Richard trained as a PE teacher and worked in the profession for 32 years; 21 of which were in senior management in both mainstream secondary schools and specialist provision. From 2012 until 2019 he was Head Teacher of Sky College in Taunton.

Richard now works as an independent educational consultant, he is a MHFA (England) Trainer; A TeamTeach Tutor; whilst also being a mental health and wellbeing ambassador for the Rugby Football Union.

Caroline has extensive experience in the social housing sector , having worked for a high performing ALMO and a range of housing associations.

She has established and continually developed award winning community services, housing management , employment and regeneration initiatives across Cheltenham and is committed to ensuring that services are person centred , strengths based and resident led.

Caroline was inspired by the ACEs work in Wales and was keen to embed the ACEs concepts and practice in Cheltenham communities. She established the St Pauls ACEs project, secured dedicated resource to support families from trauma to resilience and developed this pilot in to mainstream approach in Cheltenham Borough Homes .

Caroline is keen to continue to work with partners so that communities are supported to resilience and ACEs approaches evolve and are adopted by families , communities and partners from both the statutory and voluntary sectors

Emma has been working in community development in the district for 16 years. Emma co-chairs the Stroud District Know Your Patch Network to improve wellbeing work across the voluntary and statutory sectors.

Audrey oversees the family sector and helps to coordinate sessions and the family team.