What does your work entail?
I work in a partnership with the local community and agencies from across public, private and voluntary sectors to deliver a vision of ensuring that our youngest children in Blackpool have the best possible start in life. My role is to explore and develop approaches and interventions that have worked across the world and adapt them to work within our local context, to help prevent neglect, improve parent-child interactions and support families impacted by substance misuse.
You’ve been awarded the Winston Churchill Fellowship in the field of Early Years Prevention and Intervention…
The premise of the fellowship is to support British citizens to travel overseas in pursuit of new and better ways of tackling a wide range of the current challenges facing the UK. The idea is that the learning you gain will be widely disseminated and act as a catalyst for change within communities. There are different categories and research areas for applications. Anyone can apply and it gives a fantastic platform for applicants from all walks of life.
How will you use the fellowship?
My fellowship will enable me to travel to America and Australia to research trauma-focused interventions and a wider trauma-informed approach to services. In America I’m keen to explore different ways of working with adults who have experienced adversity in childhood to minimise the impact this may now be having on their pregnancy or young children. My travel to Australia will enable me to uncover more around how the stigma of trauma in childhood is being broken down and is becoming more openly discussed and visible, creating more empathic and supportive communities. If you’ve got a passion to make a real difference, then apply!
- For more information, visit www.wcmt.org.uk
