ACEs awareness and education
Helping people understand trauma, stress responses, emotional triggers, survival behaviours and the impact of childhood experiences. Many people finally understand themselves for the first time.
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ACEs Recovery Programme
Healing hearts. Restoring hope. Building brighter futures.
What are adverse childhood experiences?
Adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, are difficult or traumatic things that happen in childhood. They can shape mental health, emotional wellbeing, relationships, education, confidence, physical health, parenting and life outcomes long into adulthood.
For refugees, people seeking asylum, migrants and many disadvantaged communities, ACEs are extremely common and often hidden. That is why this programme matters in Blackpool.
Examples include
At home
- Abuse
- Neglect
- Domestic violence
- Loss of a parent
- Parental mental illness
In the wider world
- War and displacement
- Forced migration and trauma
- Poverty
- Racism
- Community violence
What makes this programme different
Most ACEs programmes are clinical, academic or heavily NHS-focused. Ours is a culturally rooted healing and recovery programme, combining trauma-informed care with African and community healing approaches.
Coastal healing
Beach wellbeing walks and grounding sessions.
African healing principles
Ubuntu: “I am because we are.”
Creative healing
Art, poetry, music, drumming, movement and storytelling.
Faith and spiritual wellbeing
Optional culturally sensitive support.
Family healing
We work with families, not only with individuals.
Community belonging
Reducing loneliness and isolation.
What the programme includes
Seven strands. They can be taken together as a pathway, or separately depending on what someone needs.
Trauma recovery support
Emotional regulation, grounding techniques, coping strategies, self-esteem rebuilding, identity healing and confidence restoration.
Parenting after trauma
Helping parents break generational trauma, understand their children’s emotions, parent calmly, build secure attachment and heal family relationships.
Refugee and migration trauma support
Specific support for displacement trauma, war trauma, asylum stress, cultural loss, identity struggles and isolation. Very few organisations specialise in this properly.
Healing circles
Storytelling, reflection, peer support, cultural connection, safe conversations and collective healing, aligned with African approaches to healing.
Youth ACEs support
Support for young people with emotional wellbeing, confidence, identity, school stress, trauma recovery and future aspirations.
Community wellbeing champions
Empowering people with lived experience to support others safely. This becomes transformational community leadership.
Our pillars
Heal. Connect. Empower. Thrive.
Heal
Trauma recovery support.
Connect
Community and belonging.
Empower
Confidence and resilience.
Thrive
Building hopeful futures.
Our services include
- ACEs workshops
- One-to-one wellbeing support
- Peer groups
- Parenting programmes
- Youth wellbeing sessions
- Refugee trauma support
- Wellbeing advocacy
- Emotional resilience training
- Wellbeing champions programme
We are trauma-informed
Everything in this programme is delivered in a trauma-informed way. That shapes how sessions are run, how people are spoken to, and how safety and choice are built into every part of it.
Mwanga is not only offering therapy. We are building healing, dignity, belonging, empowerment, culturally safe support and hope.