Edward Cooke Family Law sponsors Chichester Healing Classrooms Conference

12 October 2023

On 12 October 2023, Edward Cooke Family Law was delighted to sponsor a "Healing Classrooms Conference" led by the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

The Chichester conference took place at the Assembly Room, Chichester and was attended not only by educators from schools and universities, but also by students, SENCOs, representatives of charities, churches, hospices and youth groups, Chichester Contact Centre and West Sussex County Council staff members, as well as by mediators, therapists, counsellors and psychologists.

Founded in 1933 at the call of Albert Einstein, the IRC now operates in over 40 crisis-affected countries, including the Ukraine and the Middle East, helping those whose lives have been shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and rebuild their lives.

The IRC’s Healing Classrooms programme was developed in 2022 to support trauma-affected young people.

The aim of the Chichester Healing Classrooms conference was to support people from not only education, but also a range of other bodies which support students with refugee status, in order for them to gain the necessary academic, social, and emotional skills to develop their full potential.

     

Whilst the conference focused primarily on the needs of children affected by conflict, the Healing Classrooms approach can also benefit young people from a wide variety of backgrounds who have had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Managing Director Edward Cooke, who attended the conference with fellow Director Lauren Guy, said the firm was delighted to be supporting this important event. Edward said:

“This conference is the first of its kind on the South Coast, and of course the work of the International Rescue Committee and its Healing Classrooms programme is more important now than ever - particularly given the current crises the world faces in Ukraine and the Middle East.

As a firm which supports clients and their children through difficult times, we see through our own work the impact that trauma and adverse childhood experiences can have.

It was great to be able to support an event so clearly focused on helping children not only cope with trauma, but also fulfil their potential through the roll-out of the fantastic Healing Classrooms programme.”