About us
Ukrainian children in London were given free copies of Rucksack, a picture book about a refugee child, with an advice booklet for their parents written by our team.
Our work is based on a suite of proven psychological interventions for traumatised children, known as Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT). These help children to cope with their experiences and rebuild their mental health. They can be applied by specialists or appropriate non-specialists – for example, clinical psychologists, school teachers, aid workers or social workers.
TRT is based on 25 years of field experience from clinical psychologists working in humanitarian situations, from the Balkan wars of the 1990s onwards. It has been trialled extensively, cited in leading journals and recommended by NICE (UK). It is based on knowing what works best for children, and is practical, child-led and evidence-based.
Our role
Our role is to train those who provide help for the children, so that they can cascade these life-changing skills through local services, communities and families. As a result, TRT reaches the widest possible circle of children and their carers – quickly, affordably and effectively. The training is provided through a short series of sessions online or in the field and can then be shared and implemented by attendees.
In addition to training the carers, we continue to research and develop new applications and adaptations of TRT – for example, for children experiencing traumatic grief, for parents living in conflict settings, and for very young children.
If you would like to be involved with our training or research, please read those sections and then get in touch.
Our future plans
We have a big vision for the future. Over the next five years we aim to develop and diversify training programmes for new regions, research new applications for TRT, increase our impact measurement, build our organisational capacity with paid staff, expand our supporter base and fundraising, and engage proactively with the professional sectors that can benefit from our knowledge in the UK and overseas.
We would welcome hearing from anyone who can help us on this remarkable journey, which will bring psychological help to those in desperate need – children experiencing the trauma caused by wars and other catastrophic events.
Latest stories about our impact
Training highlights of 2023
Major emergencies in Ukraine and Turkey were our focus, plus help for UK child specialists.
Helping the children of Ukraine
Almost 7,000 children in Ukraine have been helped with our TRT programme – latest research.
Our 2022 annual report
The war in Ukraine was a major focus for our work in 2022, explains our Annual Report.
You can make a difference
Our mission is to help children overcome the trauma of wars and other disasters.
You can support this life-changing work by making a donation or raising funds.
