All children in the Ukraine are now in danger and at risk of trauma

Like all of you we are appalled at what is happening now and thinking of ways we can help.  At our recent trustees meeting we agreed to develop some guidance about how to support children in the days and weeks after conflict.  This will be made available here on our website very soon, and publicised via social media to anyone working with Ukrainian children.  We are also talking to other NGOs and partners about making more training available to help their staff cope with the avalanche of need that is about to appear all over Europe.

If you are seeking help with how to help children and young people in the first days and weeks after conflict, please click here.

More happily, we have now completed two in-person CATT training trips to the Gambia and Colombia, and are pleased to welcome 33 new CATT counsellors to our international family. Our fantastic trainers - Maria & Elias for the Gambia; Pilu & Almudenta in Bogota – did an amazing job as illustrated by the written feedback from the trainees and the looks on their faces!

Also our trustees have now agreed our programme of activity for 2022-23.  This will include our postponed conference in Kampala, Uganda in May, plus three new CATT courses in other parts of Uganda. In the Middle East we will continue our online work in the Yemen, if the war permits, and are sponsoring a video in Arabic to raise awareness of the issues of child mental health and conflict. We will also continue to roll out our anxiety and resilience training programme to the staff of more NGOs working with child refugees across the region. And of course we are planning to invest in research into the outcomes of our work and the impact on children’s lives, so that our existing funders continue with their invaluable support and we can attract new income to continue and grow our work, in the face of the sadly growing need for it.