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ACES Conversation Series

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Today

ACEs & Human Rights

Invited guests:
Mary Glasgow, CEO, Children1st
Juliet Harris, Director, Scottish Alliance of Children’s Rights

Is tackling adverse childhood experiences a matter of human rights?  This is a good time to consider that question, as Scotland works to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).  Please join us as two of the country’s leading voices in that campaign offer their perspective on ACES.

FREE

ACEs & Poverty

Invited guests:
Sir Michael Marmot, UCL Institute of Health Equity
Benjamin Perks, UNICEF New York & Univ of Birmingham

How does the goal of preventing ACES fit with the goal of reducing poverty?  Does focusing on one distract from the other, or do they complement one another?  Please join us as two voices of international renown offer their perspectives.

FREE

ACEs Screening

Invited guests:
Warren Larkin, Consultant Clinical Psych & Univ of Sunderland
Rena Romano, Sur-THRIVER of child sexual abuse

One of the issues that generates strongest feelings within the UK’s ACES discussions is that of screening.  What are its risks?  Does it have any benefits?  Who should it be done by, if anyone?  Where does power lie?  Please join us to hear from two individuals with considerable experience in thinking about scoring, screening and routine enquiry. 

FREE

Trauma at the Heart of Scotland’s Drug Deaths

Invited guests: James Docherty, VRU Mentor & Advocate for Relationships Annemarie Ward, Founder of Faces & Voices of Recovery UK Darren McGarvey, Social commentator and Rap artist Scotland has the highest rate...

FREE

The Language of Suffering

Invited guests:
Joan Smith, Journalist & award-winning author
Lisa Cherry, Trauma Specialist & author

At the core of the ACES framework is a recognition of the impact of childhood suffering.  How does the language of ‘adverse childhood experiences’ sit alongside other terminology, such as trauma, attachment, PTSD, adversity and developmental trauma?  Where are the overlaps and where are the differences?  Does that matter?  Our two guests will help us explore this contested territory. 

FREE

Memorial Conversation for Tina Hendry, Scottish ACEs Campaigner

Invited guests:
Karyn McCluskey, CEO Community Justice Scotland
Jade Kilkenny, Friend

Tina Hendry has been one of Scotland’s most vocal ACEs Campaigners.  She was talking about adverse childhood experiences long before there was a Scottish ACES movement, and she had a massive impact on the spread of awareness of ACEs science across the country.  She brought both professional knowledge of trauma, from her time as a police officer, and also personal knowledge, as a kinship carer.  Tina’s death in February 2020 from cancer came as a great loss to the Scottish ACEs community.  This Conversation is intended as a memorial to her.  We will hear from those who worked with her, who benefitted from her kindness and who joined her in her efforts to educate the public about ACEs.  The photo we have chosen features the badge that carries her signature quote: “Poor outcomes are not inevitable.”  This quote badge was amongst other badges at the 2018 ACE Aware Nation Conference, and images of that badge appeared across social media to mark her passing. It seems very fitting to feature it as the image for this memorial event.

FREE

International Perspectives on ACEs

Invited guests:
Elizabeth Perry, ACEs Canada
Marianne Vanderveen-Kolkena, ACE Aware Netherlands

The ACES Movement originated in the USA, picking up speed as the millennium has progressed.  Following key moments, such as the establishment of the ACES Connection site in 2012, the TED Talk delivered by Dr Nadine Burke Harris in 2014, and the release of the documentary film Resilience by KPJR films in 2016, the movement has expanded internationally.  Please join us to hear from leading voices in two other countries about their motivation for establishing a national ACES presence.

FREE

Relational Leadership

Invited guests:
Steve Slessor, Regional Director, Morrison Construction
Mike Stevenson, Founder & Director of Thinktastic

The grassroots ACEs Movement in Scotland has worked hard to keep relationships at the centre of its message.  The harm created by ACEs occurs within relationships, and so does recovery from it.  What does it look like when an appreciation of the importance of relationships is reflected in organisational leadership?  Please join us as two Scottish business leaders reflect on how they have used their knowledge of trauma to shape the way they lead their organisations. 

FREE