Ready Together
How the project started
Nobody had asked the young people who lived through that night whether the support they received had helped. Some had been given care that made a difference. Others were offered nothing at all.
Nine of them decided to find out how widespread that was. They worked with Dr Cath Hill, a Manchester survivor and lecturer at Lancaster University, and brought in Lancaster University and the National Emergencies Trust. The young people shaped the survey questions themselves and set the terms for how other survivors would be approached.
The name came out of a workshop in Manchester in February 2022. It is about improving outcomes for the survivors who come next.
What the research found
The survey drew 236 responses. Nine in ten of those young people were at the concert or nearby when the attack happened.
Three-quarters said the attack had psychologically injured them, and 93% said they needed help. Seven in ten received no professional support in the first month, and almost one in three went without through the whole of the first year.
Schools were the most common early source. Of the 30% who did get support within the first month, nearly half found it through school.
More than five years on, 29% had never received professional support at all. Asked why, 40% said it was never offered to them, 28% did not feel comfortable asking, and 14% did not know where to look.
(Bee The Difference, National Emergencies Trust, 22 May 2023)
Six ways to create change
The young authors set out six changes, drawn from what survivors told them.
- Bee visible. Make support easy to find, so young survivors and the people who care for them are not left searching for it.
- Bee compassionate. Listen, take young survivors seriously, and do not dismiss what they say because of their age.
- Bee experienced. Make specialist trauma support available wherever survivors live, alongside pastoral care in schools.
- Bee flexible. Let young survivors choose the support that suits them, and make that choice available to everyone, not only to families who can pay.
- Bee patient. Recovery is rarely a straight line. Needs change as young people grow older, and anniversaries can set them back.
- Bee proactive. Act on what survivors say, and change services, policy and funding to match.
What has changed since
Within a week of the report's launch, the UK Government announced new funding for children and young people affected by emergencies. The Home Office has used the findings in its own reviews, citing the value of UK data on young survivors of terrorism.
The young authors took their findings to the United Nations Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism. The report reached national audiences through BBC Breakfast, Sky News, ITV and The Guardian.
What happens next
We are building the six Bee principles into our funding, our training and the way we respond to emergencies. That includes information campaigns aimed at young survivors and their families, financial gifts that young people can direct themselves, and funding for survivor-led projects after future emergencies.
The report sets out what educators, healthcare staff, government and public bodies can each do next.
