Ar Trac Project

Who is Ar Trac for?

Ar Trac supports children and young people aged 5-16, who have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse and who are exhibiting difficulties with their family and peer relationships.

Difficulties can be wide ranging and pervasive; by addressing them and building upon strengths within childhood, Ar Trac aims to minimise the impact of the adverse childhood experiences associated with domestic abuse and improve life-long well-being.

What will Ar Trac deliver?

The project brings together a range of interventions, co-produced by local agencies with children and young people. Ar Trac’s suite of age-appropriate services can be tailored based on the individual needs and strengths of the child and their family. As such, the project and what it offers will continue to evolve.

Ar Trac teams will deliver activities bilingually in 10 counties across Wales. Interventions will be designed specifically for the children and young people accessing the project and this will be established through the initial assessment with each individual.

Interventions may include:

Mentoring:

One-to-one mentoring (aged 5 to 11): A child is matched with a vetted and trained volunteer, who mentors them weekly for up to a year, giving them space away from the family home to focus on their needs.
One-to-one peer mentoring with young people who have similar lived experiences (aged 10 to 13), some of whom will have accessed Ar Trac themselves.

Adolescent to parent violence support:

One-to-one support addressing adolescent to parent violence (aged 11 to 16), working with both the young person and the parent separately.
Group work that addresses adolescent to parent violence and abuse (age 11 to 16) working with both the young person and the parent separately, using the Break4Change model.

Group work:

Group-based support for children aged 7 to 11, including STAR 7-11 and attachment-based group work, which aims to rebuild relationships and enhance emotional well-being.
Gender-specific group work that builds self-esteem, communication skills, and supports emotional development (age 11 to 16), led by young people and based on a group project (e.g. forest school or video production).

Addressing Gaps

Recognising gaps in service provision, the project will work with academic partners, and children and young people to develop and deliver age-appropriate 1-2-1 and group support provision covering understanding difficult experiences and sibling violence and abuse.
Children and young people will have the opportunity to co-produce and co-facilitate training resources for professionals (statutory and third sector), covering domestic abuse, sibling violence and adolescent to parent violence.

Throughout the project, children and young people will be empowered to:

Express themselves safely, and to recognise and prioritise their own needs
Understand their experiences
Build resilience and positive coping strategies, and develop a foundation for a happy and healthy future
Make the right choices for them, shaping the support they receive including duration, type of intervention, and the involvement of wider family members

Ar Trac aims to ensure children and young people can go on to:

• Develop relationships that are safe and healthy
• Feel safe within their homes
• Do the things that matter to them
• Feel in control of their lives

Across Wales

Ar Trac is delivered across 10 areas by 5 regional project partners:

• Newport and Blaenau Gwent (Cyfannol Women’s Aid)
• Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil (Cardiff Women’s Aid)
• Neath Port Talbot and South Powys (Calan DVS)
• Ceredigion and North Pembrokeshire (West Wales DAS)
• Gwynedd and Anglesey (Gorwel)

It’s estimated that 133,053 children in Wales have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse*. These adverse childhood experiences can have a huge impact on children and young people, but referral options are limited due to the lack of specialist support available.

The Ar Trac project is funded by Welsh Government Sustainable Social Services Third Sector Grant for 2020 to 2023 and is the first project of its kind in Wales, bringing together five specialist domestic abuse agencies to provide a consortium-led approach to supporting children and young people.

With direct support provided by each member organisation within the partnership, existing referral routes into these services can be used to develop the programme. These specialist support organisations have a profound understanding of the needs of children and young people who have been affected by domestic violence.

Within Cyfannol

As we roll out our Ar Trac programme, we are working closely with children and young people and their parents to ensure our interventions meet their needs.

The programme will continue to evolve over the course of the project, but initially our offer will focus on:

One-to-one sessions
Remote group work via online platforms

This approach means we can deliver the programme in line with current restrictions, allowing us to use digital technology to reach children and young people across both Newport and Blaenau Gwent.

How to make a referral

To refer into the service or make an enquiry in Newport or Blaenau Gwent, contact us via:

Cyfannol Women’s Aid Newport Office
56 Stow Hill
Newport
NP20 1JG
Tel: 01633 840258
E-mail: artrac@cyfannol.org.uk

Cyfannol Women’s Aid Blaenau Gwent
Ebbw Vale Institute
Church Street
Ebbw Vale, NP23 6BE
Tel: 01495 533177
E-mail: artrac@cyfannol.org.uk

Downloads:

Ar Trac information leaflet (English)

Ar Trac Information leaflet (Welsh)