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.
> Download the child-parent bond groupwork information leaflet
- 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).
> Download the gender-specific groupwork information leaflet
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)
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.
- One-to-one sessions
- Remote group work via online platforms
How to make a referral
To refer into the service or make an enquiry in Blaenau Gwent or Newport, contact us via:
Cyfannol Women’s Aid Blaenau Gwent
Ebbw Vale Institute
Church Street
Ebbw Vale, NP23 6BE
Tel: 01495 533177
E-mail: artrac@cyfannol.org.uk
Cyfannol Women’s Aid Newport Office
56 Stow Hill
Newport
NP20 1JG
Tel: 01633 840258
E-mail: artrac@cyfannol.org.uk
Downloads (English):
Project leaflets (English):
Ar Trac newsletter
Edition 1, 2021:
