Some three quarters (75pc) of children and young people affected by the May 2017 Manchester Arena (pictured) terrorist attack were psychologically injured by what happened to them. However, more than one in four (29pc) have never received any professional support, with four in ten (40pc) saying it was never offered to them.
In fact, while near all, 93pc of young survivors of the Ariana Grande concert felt they needed support in the aftermath of the attack, 70pc received no professional help within the first month and 31pc received no professional help within the first year. That’s according to a report for a UK disaster response charity, the National Emergencies Trust, by researchers at Lancaster University.
Mhairi Sharp, CEO of the National Emergencies Trust, said: “There has been a glaring gap in knowledge about how UK disasters affect children and young people. Bee The Difference offers valuable direction for emergency funders like us and means we can build on the good work that the We Love Manchester fund started in 2017. We can raise awareness with our partners so that there is less onus on future survivors to seek out support. We can also offer funding to those who would like to set up peer support groups.”
While some of the professional help offered by teachers, counsellors, GPs and others was incredibly valuable, the report says, some of it inadvertently introduced more trauma. Some young people felt their experiences were not validated by adults in positions of care, and that their feelings were dismissed on account of their age. Among the words in the report:
“The tutor told me that I should take the attack as a positive experience – that this ‘hardship’ would make me a stronger person. He said not many young people experience hardships nowadays. This felt totally insensitive so I didn’t return.”
“… when I asked for help they brushed me off and put it down to just teenage hormones. To then just put me on antidepressants and that was only at 18 and didn’t even think of referring me to a therapist.”
“I poured my heart out to this random GP who totally dismissed everything I expressed […] she said I was coping better than she would have been because I was 15 and in the two years it would have taken for her to get me into CAMHS I would then be 17 and probably feeling a lot better at that point.”
The report does praise some pastoral care in schools where individuals went above and beyond to support young survivors’ new needs. Also highlighted is the value of care provided by trauma-experienced individuals, including specialist trauma counsellors, as well as fellow survivors.
“My teacher was there for me when I needed to sit out of lessons or talk about what had affected me that day. It was good because she was there for another 2 years of my time at school so acted as a constant support that was semi-permanent rather than a specialist that I could only see once or twice.”
“For the first time I met other survivors, and there was a sort of subliminal understanding – I didn’t even have to say what happened to me at Manchester, but I was still greeted with open arms into a new, wonderful, kind safe space, where I was listened to and accepted for who I was.”
The Trust’s royal patron is Prince William, The Prince of Wales. Lead Researcher, Dr Cath Hill, is a Lecturer in Social Work at Lancaster, co-founder of the support group, Manchester Survivors’ Choir.
You can download the 43-page report at https://nationalemergenciestrust.org.uk/beethedifference/.
