Our Annual Report for 2025 is now available and gives a clear picture of our work to help children traumatised by wars, disasters and other catastrophic events.
Training
In 2025 our main charitable activity was holding nine training courses which we provided to support children affected by events in 26 countries including Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere.
These courses were of three types: our core training (TRT) for helping trauma-affected children; an add-on course to help their parents; and grief training for those working with traumatically bereaved children.
Our courses trained a total of 120 professionals and other appropriate adults working with children. Their professional roles ranged from clinical psychologists to social workers, therapists, nurses, doctors, pharmacists, teachers, critical incident leaders, aid workers, scout leaders, lawyers, students and lecturers.
As part of our longstanding programme for Ukrainian children, in March and June we held special TRT courses in the Ukrainian language, which were attended by 40 people. We have been supporting Ukrainian children since the first Russian invasion in 2014, and stepped up our assistance after the second invasion in 2022. Since then, TRT has been cascaded down by our trainees and partner organisations to thousands of traumatised children living in Ukraine or in exile.
Meanwhile in Israel-Palestine, we started to organise Arabic-language courses to begin in 2026.
Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) is internationally recognised to help children overcome the psychological shock of wars, disasters and other catastrophic events. It is evidence-based, quick to learn and applicable by specialists and appropriate non-specialists. This makes it easily scaleable in the aftermath of wars, mass casualty events and other catastrophes.
The impact of TRT was documented in a powerful film released in March, which showed how it had helped children at St Mary’s Ukrainian School in London. Made by the school, this film explains the process of TRT and includes interviews with mothers and TRT specialists, including our Ukrainian training lead Kateryna Yavna. It can be watched here.
Research
Our work in this area has largely been on hold while we seek funders and partner organisations to work with. We remain keen to monitor the effectiveness of TRT and to develop adaptations of it for differing circumstances.
An updated version of our core training manual was produced during the year by our sister organisation the Children and War Foundation in Norway, with input from us, and this will be trialled in 2026.
Organisational development
In 2025 we focused on increasing our programme of online training sessions, with courses run throughout the year and an internal Trainer’s Forum to bring in new people and expertise. By the end of the year, we had established a stable of six regular trainers and taken on a Training Consultant drawn from the NHS, as a pilot for future leadership of this vital function.
During the year we continued to liaise with the Children and War Foundation in Norway, from which our charity evolved. We also developed our internal policies and systems for good governance, in line with Charity Commission guidelines for best practice.
Fundraising
In 2025 we continued to rely on donations from the public to fund our activities, and our fundraising committee worked hard to organise a busy programme of sponsored runs, rides, talks and concerts. We would like to express our gratitude to all those who have supported our work throughout the year, and especially to the unpaid committee members who have progressed our fundraising, training activities and research so effectively. We could not do this without them.
