Small Charity Week is an annual celebration of the small charities making a huge difference to communities across the U.K. The campaign aims to amplify the messages and impact of small charities, support them in their invaluable work, and connect small charities with those who can strengthen them. When small charities are stronger, the communities they support are stronger too.
In the spirit of Small Charity Week, we are delighted to highlight the brilliant work of small charities in Bath & North East Somerset, by featuring several individual charity spotlights across the week of June 24th - 28th. By sharing their stories, we hope to support further recognition for the vital role small charities play, empower our members to have their voices heard, and celebrate their magnificent efforts.
Halfway through Small Charity Week, and next up we are pleased to spotlight Trauma Recovery Centre, Bath! Find out more about this excellent organisation below...
Can you tell us a little bit about your small charity?
Trauma Recovery Centre, Bath, is one the Therapy Centres of Trauma Recovery UK. Trauma Recovery UK is a specialist Charity founded in 2011, with our Head Quarters in Oxford and Trauma Recovery Centres around the UK. We are specialists in Trauma Recovery, helping families recover from complex trauma.
We help children, young people and young adults (aged 3 to 24) recover from multiple and complex trauma by providing specialist trauma recovery focused creative therapy. We also work with the parent/carer of children up to age 16 in our parent support groups to provide holistic support. This helps them move from psychological shock through to recovery, reducing the multi-faceted impact of trauma.
We help families as they piece their lives back together until a wholeness can be found.
Are you working on any big projects at the moment?
We are continuing to help families from BANES and the surrounding region through our Therapy Centre in Bath. From September 2024, our Bath Centre will also offer Therapeutic Mentoring to children and young people, to support with the foundation of safety and stability, meet ongoing therapeutic needs, help children and young people gain confidence and develop social skills.
Have there been any accomplishments your charity is particularly proud of that you'd like to share?
We are delighted that over the last 13 years since being founded, we have fundraised and spent over £2million on helping families recover from trauma! This is a huge achievement, and we are so pleased to have provided such significant help!
We have also been independently evaluated, through funding from The National Lottery. In Spring 2019 Canterbury Christ Church University produced an evaluation report for Trauma Recovery UK in relation to the outcomes of TRC client data, which found that 98.8% of a sample of 250 children who received our specialist support were positively impacted and had significant clinical reductions in the severity of their trauma symptoms.
Other than volunteering and donating, what other ways can local people help support your charity's great work?
We hugely appreciate the incredible efforts of local people in supporting our Charity! It makes a big difference, and we know changes lives.
We are especially very grateful to our Restorers, who have committed to supporting us on a monthly basis. Their generosity helps us as we plan for the future and ensure that we are providing ethical long-term support to families who desperately need our help.
We would love to see areas and Local Authorities working cohesively together to support all aspects of recovery, including the specialist work that we do, and we will continue to work hard to secure the funding we need to continue to help children, young people and families recover from trauma.
How many people does your charity support and what is the impact of your support?
Since 2011, we have delivered over 25,000 hours of Trauma Recovery Focused clinical work provided to over 1,600 clients and developed our service involving the feedback from client families.
In the last academic year, data compiled through our End Evaluations found that: 100% children and young people who graduated from therapy reported a reduction in a range of trauma symptoms!
It’s a privilege to support so many courageous families on the journey of recovering from multiple and complex trauma.
What are the benefits of being a small charity?
Despite there being a national shortage of trauma Therapists in this field, we have been joined by Therapists who have been drawn to the compelling vision of our Charity because of our integral focus on recovery rather than management symptoms which is inspiring and motivating in their work. Our high values are integrity, honesty, transparency, kindness, teamwork, and as such, we work closely together to support one another with the varied skills and experiences we each bring to the team.
What do you think are the main challenges facing small charities, and what could be done better to tackle these?
Children and young people have the right to access specialist support to recover from the things that have happened to them, such as trauma, yet this is not currently reflected in appropriate funding available for specialist charities, such as ours. Instead, there is a national landscape where many services are funded to provide short term support but not specialised trauma recovery support.
We see families recover from the multifaceted impact of complex trauma – resulting in seeing lives restored –however with more funding and support from statutory providers we would be able to have more of an impact and help more families.
We need to see those in positions of power understand the cost effectiveness of trauma recovery work as evidenced by decades of research.
As a small charity, what is your favourite thing about being a 3SG member?
We really appreciate the regular e-updates that share local news specifically focused to helping Charities in the area.
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Check out the Trauma Recovery Centre website to learn more about what they do!
Find out more about Small Charity Week here: https://www.smallcharityweek.com/
Small Charity Week defines a small charity as a voluntary organisation with a social or charitable purpose with an annual income of less than £1 million. This includes registered charities, community groups, community interest companies (CICs) and other structures.
If your small charity would like to become a 3SG member, you can find more information here. Alternatively, please get in touch and we'd be happy to have a chat - contact@3sg.org.uk
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