Monday, August 16, 2021

Would you like to become an ambassador for the 70/30 Campaign as we aim to bring levels of child abuse, child neglect and domestic violence down by 70%? Find out more here.

 

I’m Andrea Cook, a 70/30 Campaign ambassador based in Cumbria. I have personal and professional knowledge of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and I own Auntydote Therapy, a trauma-informed, holistic, complementary therapy practice. Prior to starting my business, I worked with children, young people and families for around 20 years in various early years settings, primary schools and training companies.

 

Why I became a 70/30 ambassador

I joined the 70/30 Campaign because I want to work with other like-minded people to create change for our children. I came across the WAVE Trust online in early 2021 and had a chat with Alex Williamson to learn more about the work, as well as how I could use my skills and life experience to increase awareness of the 70/30 campaign in my area.

 

What the goals are for Cumbria

In Cumbria, we have an ACEs Cumbria forum with over 1,200 members on Facebook. In recent years there has been a Cumbria Resilience Project with 39 screenings of the film “Resilience” that reached about 1,400 people.

My goals for Cumbria are to build on the fantastic work that's been done and is also ongoing here, and to keep the well-being of our children and families at the forefront of people's minds in Cumbria.

 

Left, Mark Jenkinson MP; right, Andrea Cook

 

What I've done since becoming an ambassador

Since I started volunteering I've been getting to know other ambassadors, learning about the campaign priorities and contacting people to introduce myself and the 70/30 Campaign, and to find out what is happening locally.

I’ve spoken with my local Child-centred Policing team. All Cumbria Constabulary CCP team members have received training in ACEs and Trauma Informed Practice and they are now focussing on embedding that learning into their culture and daily work.

Cumbria is creating hubs to bring together different organisations and improve multi-agency working, so I made contact with my local Hub Manager. We arranged an online introductory meeting and that meeting provided me with lots of other contacts to follow up with.

I’ve emailed local MPs and councillors to introduce myself and explain the aims of the 70/30 Campaign and what we're hoping to achieve. I recently met with my local MP, Mark Jenkinson, to discuss what further help he may be able to give to support our aims.

I’m using social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn to build connections and raise my profile with other people in the area that have similar ambitions for our children. I created a new Facebook page to post relevant regional and national information at https://www.facebook.com/CumbriaWaveTrust

Locally, we have many Co-Operative food stores, so I registered as a group and applied for funding from the Co-Op Local Community Fund recently.

I’m currently continuing to make contact with people at all levels: the county, district and local parish councils, schools, local businesses and voluntary groups.

 

Future plans

I hope to be able to recruit more 70/30 ambassadors across the region and to spread the word with their friends, families and wider communities. I would also love to be able to bring trauma-informed training and workshops to local towns and villages throughout Cumbria.