The Challenge

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Creating 30 trauma-aware communities in the UK

The Resilience Challenge offers churches in 30 different communities in the UK, the possibility to show the film ‘Resilience’ free of charge* to parents, health and social workers, educators, police and local government representatives in their community and initiate discussions with those present on the effect of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and what, as a community, can be done to prevent and reduce them.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful events occurring in childhood including:

domestic violence
parental abandonment through separation or divorce
a parent with a mental health condition
being the victim of abuse (physical, sexual and/or emotional)
being the victim of neglect (physical and emotional)
a member of the household being in prison
growing up in a household in which there are adults experiencing alcohol and drug use problems.

ACEs have been found to increase the risk of lifelong impacts on health and behaviour and they are relevant to all sectors and involve all of us in society. You can help reduce ACEs by encouraging wider awareness and understanding about ACEs and their impact on health and behaviour, supporting parents and families and building resilience in children and wider communities. Therefore becoming a trauma-aware community.

The effect of ACEs

People affected by several ACEs have much higher risk of poor health, educational failure, imprisonment, addiction, etc. For example, a recent study¹ of men in prison in Wales found that nearly half of prisoners (46%) reported they had experienced four or more ACEs. This compares to just over 1 in 10 (12%) in the wider population. It also found that prisoners with multiple ACEs (four or more) were four times more likely to have spent time in a young offender institution than those with no ACEs.

In an English National ACE study² nearly half (47%) of individuals experienced at least one ACE with 9% of the population having 4+ ACEs. The case for help is overwhelming when reviewing the statistics:

People exposed to 4+ ACEs can die 20 years earlier than those with no ACEs
Four or more ACEs significantly increase the odds of a person:
- Developing cancer (by nearly two times)
- Being a current smoker (just over two times)
- Having sexually transmitted infections (by two and a half times)
- Using illicit drugs (by nearly five times increased risk)
- Being addicted to alcohol (over seven times increased risk)
- Attempting suicide (over 12 times increased risk)

This does not mean that these conditions will only appear in people with a high number of ACEs but the risk of them appearing is much higher.

Prevention and reduction

Prevention starts with awareness, especially by parents, schools, doctors, social workers, police, local government, etc. Organisations can develop ‘trauma-informed practices’ to mitigate the effects.

Preventing ACEs in future generations² could reduce levels of:

Early sex by 22%
Unintended teen pregnancy by 38%
Smoking (current) by 16%
Binge drinking (current) by 15%
Cannabis use (lifetime) by 18%
Heroin/crack use (lifetime) by 59%
Violence victimisation (past year) by 51%
Incarceration (lifetime) by 53%
Poor diet (current) by 14%
Mood disorders by 22.9%
Anxiety disorders by 31%
Behavioural disorders by 41%
Psychosis by 33%
Mental health diagnoses by 29%

Go to 'What are ACEs'.

^{* The licence cost of the film is covered. It is assumed that all other costs are met by the church e.g. premises, staff, volunteer costs.}
^{1 https://phw.nhs.wales/news1/news/more-than-eight-in-ten-men-in-prison-suffered-childhood-adversity/}
^{2 https://www.liverpoolcamhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Liverpool-ACE-briefing-SlideSet-.pdf}