The impact of WAVE's work

Across the UK and internationally, we have been influencing and catalysing change at many levels. We work with all political parties, local champions, people on the front line and decision-makers because child abuse is everyone's business.

Influencing policy:

Brought preventive programmes to the UK which have benefitted over 80,000 children and families
334 MPs across the political spectrum endorse the 70/30 campaign
2 political parties in the UK (Labour and Liberal Democrats) have endorsed '70/30'
A WAVE-led coalition of early years experts was responsible for inclusion of prevention in the Scottish Children & Young People Act 2014

Broader impact:

Advisers on early years to governments and local authorities
Established multi-nation, cross-sector workshops for senior decision-makers across the UK and Republic of Ireland, training them on child development and trauma, and proposing WAVE's solutions
Our work is used internationally by healthcare experts (e.g. Italy, Australia, Iceland); used by UNICEF in Asia and Europe; praised by the World Health Organisation; been translated into other languages (including Icelandic); and described as a ‘manifesto for the world’ by a senior UN official
Created cutting-edge preventive action plans, working with local and national partners to implement these

Other impacts:

Created UK-wide alliances and coalitions of early years experts & practitioners; wrote policy recommendations currently being used by UK and international experts, senior civil servants and government departments. WAVE is an active member of the World Health Organisation's Violence Prevention Alliance.

A PLEDGE

"Labour pledges ‘all out’ effort to tackle Adverse Childhood Experiences and make addressing trauma a national public health priority." (press release, 22nd November 2018)

(Following a meeting with WAVE's CEO George Hosking, Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary Jonathan Ashworth MP pledged the party’s commitment to preventing adverse childhood experiences and making addressing childhood adversity and trauma a national public health priority)

'Thank you for the time you took to visit Geneva - it was inspiring to learn of your considerable achievements in moving an evidence-based approach to the early developmental prevention of violence ahead in the UK, and fascinating to see the close parallels between the work of WAVE and unfolding of the WHO violence prevention activities.'

Dr. Alexander Butchart, Co-ordinator, Prevention of Violence, WHO

'WAVE's visionary 70/30 strategy has my full backing. It tackles the roots of the problems in our society where so many address the symptoms... What I learned from WAVE greatly influenced the Centre for Social Justice's approach to policy on children and families, as published in our report Breakthrough Britain.'

Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan Smith MP, former Leader of the Conservative Party

'Before I completed WAVE’s An End to Violence Therapeutic Programme, I was angry with the world, meaning society, my community and my life. This anger caused me not to think about life or anything in a positive way, therefore I led a life down a path of destruction. One year on from completing the programme, I am at peace with myself and all that the world, society and life can throw at me. I am now in a content place in my life where I am able to see life in its real reality and I am able to deal with it in a rational way without even a thought of violence.'

Robert Scott, ex-offender

'Indisputably, one area of crime has continued to rise year on year: violent offences. The WAVE Report 2005: Violence And What To Do About It [is] perhaps the most significant paper on strategic crime reduction in recent years.'

Commander Allan Gibson, Director of Strategic Development, Specialist Crime Directorate, Metropolitan Police

Latest

Alex Williamson - 70/30 ambassador and APPG Development Officer

'Whilst I don’t share the vocational background of many of my fellow ambassadors, I was drawn to the 70/30 campaign because, at the root, it’s about social justice.'
Rob Robinson

'I saw an advert back in 2015 asking if I wanted to make a difference – yes I did. It was an advert for the 70/30 campaign.'
Linda Dee

'I am very excited to be part of a new movement challenging the status quo and pushing for change.'
Deborah Davies

'I work in a secondary school with children in care, post order children, those subject to a child protection or child in need plan.'

What is the TiC project?

WAVE Trust's Trauma-informed Communities (TiC) project will empower communities across the United Kingdom to build communities, strengthen local services and spread awareness about the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), resilience and how both affect all of our minds, bodies and life outcomes.
Age 2 to 18 - systems to protect children from severe disadvantage

Written by Ita Walsh and published in June 2018 by WAVE Trust, 'Age 2 to 18 - systems to protect children from severe disadvantage' details how a national shift to a user-focused, trauma-informed care system characterised by ACE-awareness, followed by adoption of a pedagogical approach across all aspects of children and family services, would protect against severe, multiple disadvantage.
WAVE research

Transformation requires knowledge coupled with practical actions.
How WAVE began

The founding of WAVE Trust
The impact of WAVE's work

Impact of WAVE's work
Conception to age 2 - the age of opportunity

WAVE Trust report - a Department for Education invited response to Supporting Families in the Foundation Years - March 2013.
How we transform children's futures

We tackle the root causes of child maltreatment
Start a TiC project

Would you like to bring all the benefits of a trauma-informed community to your area?
21st Century policing

From the perpetrators and victims they engage with, to the stress they experience, police officers encounter trauma on a daily basis.
What are Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)?

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is the term used to describe traumatic experiences before age 18 that can lead to negative, lifelong emotional and physical outcomes.