Lancashire children's services and support groups recognise how trauma can affect the people they help

The County Hall team has received the Working with Trauma Quality Mark, awarded by national charity One Small Thing.

The accolade is awarded to those organisations that meet a set of standards about how to deal with those who may be traumatised because of their life experiences.

The county council’s accreditation comes as part of a wider mission to create a “trauma-informed Lancashire” - a movement that aims to support public, private and charitable organisations to understand how psychological trauma can affect individuals and how their services should be tailored accordingly.

A total of seven organisations have been recognised for their work, including schools and support services.

To receive the award, the quality mark team assess an organisation’s processes, policies and environments, focusing on areas including leadership, workforce development, and person-centred approaches.

County Cllr Cosima Towneley, cabinet member for Children and Families at Lancashire County Council, said of the award for the authority's early intervention team: "It was a tremendous step forward for early recognition and implementation of trauma-informed strategies…and it is immensely gratifying to see the work of our early help service recognised nationally.

"We are the only early help service to receive this national accreditation and could arguably be seen as a blueprint for other organisations and departments for trauma-informed practice.

"This is a matter of great pride and I want to personally thank our officers and staff for their continuing efforts as they will continue to develop this part of the service."

Justin Srivastava, trauma informed lead for the Lancashire Violence Reduction Network (VRN), added: “It has been a privilege to be working with like-minded professionals to bring about this culture change in Lancashire.

"Adapting a trauma-informed approach to your work is an ever-evolving process and the VRN are proud to be here to support such an important change in behaviours.”

The full lists of organisations to be awarded the Working with Trauma Quality Mark in Lancashire is:

***Active Lancashire

***Applebee Wood Community Specialist School

***Children and Family Wellbeing Service (Lancashire County Council)

***Lathom High School

***Reconnect (Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust)

***Red Rose Recovery

***The Birchall Trust