Building a network of passionate people, communities, professionals and organisations to help us become a trauma-informed nation.
The Communications and Engagement working group will ensure that co-production remains essential to the implementation of the Trauma-Informed Wales Framework, with focus on the 5 practice principles that are set out to successfully approach this. A key part of this group will be to develop the public narrative for this work, ensuring that the views of all groups of society are considered, including those who have been impacted by trauma in a person-centered, relationship-focused and inclusive way.
We will also be committed to communicating, in plain and accessible language where possible, so that this vital work can be understood at all levels of Welsh society.
Due to the nature of this working group, we will also offer support to the other streams by encouraging them to consider how they will communicate and engage people in their work.
Oliver has worked at Platfform for four years leading a Lottery-funded project, the New System Alliance, focused on creating connections across the UK to champion system change. In that role, he has also provided support to Platfform around policy and campaigns, as well as supporting the initial launch and then development of a coaching approach to supporting people in housing crisis.
Prior to his role at Platfform, Oliver worked at Cymorth Cymru, the third sector housing support and homelessness representative body for Wales. In that role as Policy Manager, he sat on the Learning Disability Ministerial Advisory Group, chaired the Learning Disability Interest Group for providers, set up and developed the Housing First Network (including the first Wales-wide principles for Housing First, and the accreditation scheme for Housing First projects). He also helped coordinate the events programme for the organisation, including several that focused on trauma-informed approaches within housing.
Oliver has an MSc in Welsh Government and Politics from Cardiff University, and completed his dissertation looking at conceptions of vulnerability during the development of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014.
As co-chair of the group, Oliver wants to ensure people can get involved as much or as little as they want, and can get the support they need and advice they want to get the message out about trauma-informed working across Wales.
In his spare time, he enjoys reading, writing, Dungeons and Dragons, and is hoping to publish a book one day. He is also discovering a new found love for weight-lifting.
Lauren has worked within ACE Hub Wales for two years and is currently the Communication and Engagement Officer for Trauma-Informed Wales.
Throughout her role, Lauren leads on developing the online space and presence for the team to prioritise collaboration and accessibility. Lauren also leads on all communication and engagement around the Trauma Framework to support its implementation. Lauren is hopeful in co-chairing this working group to continue to create new and enhanced ways to capture how our work has changed people’s lives and communities.
Whilst in university, Lauren was passionate about helping and hearing others, she facilitated training courses that were available to students, and secured a wellbeing officer role in the society that she was part of. This enabled her to advance skills in the area of supporting vulnerable people at a university that is now developing a trauma-informed approach. Following on from this, Lauren is now a wellbeing representative for the team. ACE Hub Wales demonstrates a message that along with the public, we can help make Wales a world lead in preventing, tackling, and mitigating the impacts of adverse childhood experiences and trauma, implying that wellbeing and communication is at the forefront of the teams objectives, not just professionally but also towards each other, as part of a team. This is something that Lauren is passionate about and will continue to pave throughout the group.
Lauren enjoys quiet evenings with a book or following a new recipe. She enjoys visiting new places and her new adventure of living in West Wales.
Membership will be shared soon.
Information will be shared soon.