Apex Scotland is thrilled to become a ‘Partner in Change’ having been awarded Partners in Change funding from the Robertson Trust which will help us to develop, in partnership with the Resilience Learning Partnership and others, a model for trauma informed working. We will trial this with the aim of demonstrating the benefits of a trauma informed and inclusive culture, both on those accessing our services and our staff. With input from University of Dundee and an experienced psychotherapist we will initiate a cultural change programme across the whole of the organisation designed to increase our ability to listen and respond to the voices and experiences of those we serve, including critical ones, and to use this to create a continuous improvement environment where the unique experiences of the individual are valued and empowered.
Through action research, a priority is to identify and evidence the systems and processes that can actually increase the impact that trauma has on individuals and that can re-traumatise them, and to produce recommendations for system change that make that preventable.
We anticipate that a significant aspect of our impact with this funding and the ultimate project findings is the level of reach it will have. Apex inherently operates within statutory and community based partnerships and therefore we expect our evolving approach to trauma informed practice and our project learning, to infiltrate and influence a variety of settings. As a leading national justice charity, supported by Scottish Government funding, we are delighted to take on the responsibility of significantly improving the evidence base around a trauma informed model of working which will contribute to the sectors within which we operate. The ultimate aim of this, is that the impact to individuals who experience or have experienced trauma and who access services or work in them, is reduced.
We are grateful to the Robertson Trust for helping us refine our thinking on this exciting enterprise and for giving us the opportunity to demonstrate the value of this approach. We very much look forward to the partnership work ahead.