I am delighted by this episode for all sorts of reasons.

Ciara Burke is a joy to talk with. She is effervescent, full of enthusiasm and generosity. I felt energised simply by hearing her. She also has a great story to tell. What Midlothian are doing as a Council, based on their understanding of the impact of poverty, of disadvantage and of disruption on the lives of too many of the people who live there is remarkable. Ciara, along with colleagues and elected members, is trying to ensure a consistent culture across the Council. Together they want to ensure that the 6 principles of trauma-informed practice - safety, collaboration, trustworthiness, cultural consideration, choice and empowerment - are embedded in the way that everyone working in the Council goes about their work. That commitment extends to Councillors as well.

They want service responses to be consistent and predictable.

They also want to make sure that these are working principles, ensuring that services are designed with communities and that they respond collaboratively to the needs of individuals, families and communities.

My final reason for being delighted is that this episode closes a gap in the series. It shows that it is not just individuals and voluntary organisations who are taking action. We need action at Local Authority and government level alongside these other contributions and it is wonderful to see such a great example of this happening. It is also good to hear Ciara giving credit to Scottish Government for its commitment to training, funding and support.

I think there are valuable lessons here for all of us and it is a superb reminder of the principles that we need to uphold if we are serious about becoming a compassionate, understand, trauma-aware nation.

This is another instance where the quality of the recording does not match up to the quality of the content. Thomas Seisay is a wonderful example to all of us.

He and his husband adopted two children who had both been in the care system. That marks them out as caring, committed and compassionate even if they had not done anything else, but they have done so much more. They saw the challenges that their son faced and then their daughter and did all that they could as parents to support them. They then felt that was not enough. If their children, emerging from the care system, needed more love, more care and more opportunities, other young people from the same sort of circumstances would need that too. They asked themselves the question "what can we do, not just for our family, but for others?"

The answer was to establish Haus of Seisay. It's a charity providing training through SQA and SVQ courses in hairdressing for looked after young people. They already ran a salon and provided training through that, but they made the commitment to concentrate that on those who needed it most. You can read the story on their website here https://hausofseisay.org/home.

Thomas has been told that the "business model" wouldn't work, but, in the words of the great American writer James Baldwin, 'Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it." Thomas was doing the interrupting!

The model is working and is generating amazing successes. Young people are blossoming through getting the right sort of support. Haus of Seisay offers so much more than vocational training. They work on confidence, wellbeing, employability and, above all, they put the young person at the centre and tailor whatever they do to their needs..

Please check Haus of Seisay out on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/hausofseisay/ or on X https://x.com/hoshairdressingor look them up on Linkedin and think about supporting them. Thomas is a classic example of "do what you can, and use what you have". He and his colleagues have done that and a lot of young people are benefitting from it

I hope that the title for this episode got your attention. It was difficult to know what to call it, but it was delight to be part of it! Essentially, it is me trying to interview Angela Gardner from St John the Baptist Primary School in Fauldhouse - and not Falkirk as I suggest - Eileen Brennan, from Our Lady of Lourdes in Blackburn, West Lothian and Frances Burns from St Joseph's in Whitburn. In reality, it is like herding budgies with me trying to keep up as three fabulous headteachers interact, interrupt and tell a wonderful story of schools who are genuinely countering disadvantage. I should also mention Eileen's watch which keeps making unscheduled guest appearances!!

All three heads are enthusiastic, joyful, resolutely positive and always constructive.

They have done a massive amount in their schools from changing culture and policy around behaviour to establishing professional supervision for staff. They speak about all of that with great modesty and are very quick to give credit to each other and to those who have informed, inspired and motivated them, notably Dr Jenny Nock, from Jenny Nock Training and Consultancy whose Attachment and Trauma Sensitive Schools Award really encouraged them and Dr Suzanne Zeedyk who will be well known to listeners to this podcast. They recognise Suzanne's contribution to beginning their efforts to improve their schools and communities and her ongoing support.

They are too modest. All three have been brave, creative and imaginative. They have taken bold decisions and I am delighted by he success that has brought and the recognition that they have already received.

This may sound like an "education episode" but it reaches beyond any defined audience and underscores the message that the three heads give - make small changes, do what you think is right and be prepared to learn from mistakes.

Following on from the inspirational conversation with Danny Gemmell, here is another wonderful example of individual and community activism. Sandra Sutton is a force of nature. She is full of drive and energy and she has devoted that to the former mining village of Twechar in East Dunbartonshire.

Twechar could have been another dying community left behind after the pit closure and the impact of economic change. Instead, it is thriving. It has a growing population and a vibrant community and much of that is thanks to Sandra. Twechar is a community that refused to sink into depression and demise. Villagers fought to protect their community centre when it was under threat of closure. They took it over and transformed it into a genuine hub for the village.

The range of activities around the centre is striking. I love the work that they do on local history building pride in the village and recognising the legacy of those who have gone before.

That is only one example of the activities, so listen and find out more.

Sandra is wonderfully dynamic. When she was asked why she had done so much and given so much to Twechar, her answer is simple, direct and powerful - "I could, so I did"

At a time when our society is riven by individualism and isolation, Sandra offers the benefits of collectivism and community. I was completely energised by her. She revived hope for change, not through the big political parties or policy changes at national level, but through taking our futures into our own hands and taking action to make these futures better. If we can do that, we can make the case for the bigger changes and put pressure on our politicians.

This is also a classic Taking Action podcast. The sound is not top quality and you will need to out up with some echo, but the content makes that more than worthwhile. We are not professionals and we won't always be recording in the best environments, nor have the best of connections, but, as in this episode, we are telling stories worth listening to

One of the great things about doing this podcast is getting to meet someone every week who is doing something remarkable to implement what they know about the impact of trauma and the healing power of relationships. It gives me hope art a time when that can be a rare commodity. Danny Gemmell really adds to that list of outstanding people. I hope that everyone will check out his website https://www.beinnunity.co.uk/.

It is really professional and beautiful, so much so, as I say in the programme, that I updated mine! It is beautifully written, imbued by the science of ACEs and trauma and filled with wisdom.

Most importantly, it is full of action and activity. Be-inn Unity reaches out to schools, veterans and anyone that needs assistance or help. They use the outdoors, see the value of nature, offer certificated courses and vocational education and just innovative approaches and technologies to create communities. Their work with veterans alone would have deserved a programme.

Their impact is undoubted. They can barely cater for the demand for their services. And it is more than that, Danny is a voice of lived experience who has had to work to heal himself, well supported by his wife!! He shows what we can all be capable of. I found him genuinely inspiring. I know that you will too

This episode is with the remarkable Juliet Robertson. It focusses on her collection of poetry, Blood Lines, which deals with the trauma of living with a diagnosis of terminal cancer. The book is astonishing. The poems are in different styles. Some are deeply moving, some are upbeat and funny. All of them offer insights into what it is like to live with the pressing certainty that life is limited. It is a collection which offers comfort and inspiration in equal measure. It is for those who share Juliet's circumstances and for those who love them and care for them. It is for anyone who wants to understand better how one might feel when one's life is turned upside down.

Collectively the poems are even more powerful. They offer a real window into the experience that any of us might have or have to confront.

The conversation is positive. Juliet is a very brave, creative and open person and that is what comes across in the podcast.

If you want more you can hear a reading one of the poems here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfPjlcitRws

If you want to check out the anthologies that Juliet mentions, here are the links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Set-Me-Fire-Every-Feeling/dp/085752626X/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/She-Fierce-Brave-Beautiful-Poems/dp/1529003156/

You can also buy Blood Lines from Crown House Publishing with a 25% discount using the code TakingAction25

You can use the same code to purchase Unfinished Business - The Life and Legacy of Tim Brighouse which I helped to edit.

I recommend both books, but this is all about Blood Lines and what we can learn from Juliet. You will feel better for joining the conversation.

Siobhan is doing something remarkable. She combines all that she knows about the science of connection and trauma and brings that to life through the creative arts. Siobhan is part of Anam Alba - https://anam-alba.com - an organisation with a marvellous heading on their website

Creativity forges Connection.
Connection inspires Creativity.

They have demonstrated this through their production , The Little Iceberg - https://anam-alba.com/the-little-iceberg-story/ - which was a joy to watch. It is a musical based on the children's story of the same name - https://connectedbaby.net/product/the-little-iceberg/ and both are well worth checking out. Siobhan talks about all of this as well as her songs and her new project. She is irrepressible and absolutely bubbles with energy and enthusiasm throughout the conversation, characteristics reflected in her work.

She is generous about colleagues and collaborators and together they are having a real impact. They have tackled the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which was a massive risk and showed enormous courage, but it is also testimony to the commitment of Anam Albato sharing what they know and what they can do. Siobhan's ambition is to bring people together, to engage them, inform them and inspire them to find their own creativity and to take action for themselves.

I think this podcast might achieve all of that

I have been looking forward to this conversation since I started recording the Taking Action series. Iain Smith has done a massive amount to try to ensure that the justice system in Scotland recognises, and takes account of, the impact of trauma on people's lives. It is challenging work as Iain is so aware of the need to support the victims of crime as well as taking account of the circumstances of the perpetrators

Iain feels that his greatest achievement since he began campaigning was the introduction of the Young Persons Sentencing Guidelines which have been operational from January 2022 onwards.

Many Law Schools now teach trauma aware law and the Law Society of Scotland run a specialist accredited course for lawyers on Trauma.

As Iain says "The raising awareness of trauma is really the start for change. Real change is created by how individuals and systems “respond” to this knowledge. That’s trickier.

The justice system rightly focus’ on victims but fails to understand the vast majority of those who perpetrate crime start off as victims. Their victimhood is too soon forgotten in our desire for retribution and punishment."

That courage to take on what is often an unpopular view - remember the response to the other David Cameron's comments when he moved away from John Major's dictum that "we need to condemn a little more, and understand a little less - is admirable. In Iain's case it is balanced with sensitivity and an awareness of the complexity of the all that the Justice System tries too achieve