Trauma-Informed London Project
About the work
Dartington Service Design Lab is working with London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) and Friendhood to build a shared, city-wide understanding of trauma-informed practice to lay the foundations for meaningful, system-wide change in London. The Trauma-Informed London Project brings people together across sectors to create a consistent vision and definition of trauma-informed practice, elevate promising practice, and strengthen London’s collective capacity to work in trauma-informed ways and reduce violence.
The project is centred around key statutory partners identified in the Serious Violence Duty (SVD): Local Authorities, the Metropolitan Police Service, and NHS Integrated Care Boards, while also engaging the experience of voluntary, community, and education sections and the perspective of young people.
This work has also been co-developed by a project group of 16 trauma-informed champions from policing, health, local authorities, education, voluntary and community organisations, and the VRU’s Young People’s Action Group. Together, they have helped shape the project’s vision and direction.
The need
In recent years, London’s public services and communities have faced the combined impact of the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, widening inequalities, and the long-term effects of systemic harm. Alongside this, services are facing growing financial constraints, and the workforce is grappling with limited resources and increasing complexity. Violence affecting young people is a visible and tragic symptom of these pressures and continues to impact individuals and communities, often driven by deep-rooted social and economic exclusion and injustice.
Public trust in institutions has also continued to be shaken by a series of high-profile events including the murder of Sarah Everard, the Grenfell Tower fire, and the case of Child Q. These moments have exposed the persistence of structural violence that perpetuates trauma across many communities, especially the most marginalised. While awareness of trauma and its impact is growing, the ways in which trauma-informed approaches are applied remain uneven and reactive. There is now a clear and urgent need for collective action to embed trauma-informed practice as a core part of how systems work, so that services are better able to promote healing, restore trust, and prevent harm before it occurs.
Our response
The Trauma-Informed London Project sets out to create a shared, city-wide understanding and vision for trauma-informed practice. Driven through collaboration, the project connects partners across sectors to develop a common vision, linking promising practice, and strengthening London’s collective ability to reduce violence through trauma-informed ways of working.
Our approach combined research with participatory design:
Scoping interviews with stakeholders implementing trauma-informed practice across London
A rapid literature review on the national and local context for trauma-informed systems change
A baseline survey across policing, health, and local authorities to understand current practice, gaps, and needs
Promising practice workshops to surface examples of good practice and strengthen collective learning
Six in-depth case studies highlighting examples of existing trauma-informed practice across London
A study tour bringing together professionals to explore these case studies and identify what has the most impact for different audiences
Across these activities, we worked to centre equity, anti-racism, and lived expertise ensuring the work reflected London’s complexity and the voices of those most affected by trauma.
Through learning from our champions and the wide range of people we engaged, we were able to strengthen and refine our research and design. This enabled us to move beyond surface-level insights and better understand what truly drives trauma-informed practice within London.
Project outputs
Trauma-informed practice is the key to unlocking a future London that centres equity, builds trust and creates the conditions for restoration and transformation. To work towards this, London needs a consistent, collaborative approach to trauma-informed practice based in research and lived expertise. The lessons learned from this work have the opportunity to scale the impact of these approaches to reshape systems to heal instead of harm. Creating lasting change is difficult, but collective trauma-informed practice offers coherent principles for transformation.
This work and collaboration across sectors has culminated in a Roadmap for Trauma-Informed Practice, alongside research findings, recommendations, and six case studies, hosted on a dedicated webpage designed as an accessible resource for all Londoners and those interested in the drivers of trauma-informed practice. These outputs were launched at an event in City Hall, London in November 2025 - bringing together senior leaders, influencers, and decision-makers from across health, criminal justice, local authorities, and beyond, united by a shared mission to create a more connected, safe, and equitable city.
See London’s trauma-informed journey
Case studies
The roadmap
What’s next
The drivers, recommendations and roadmap are not just theoretical, they have come directly from what London’s practitioners, leaders, and communities said was needed. For trauma-informed practice to take hold we need to work collectively across and within services, from everyday interactions to policy and workforce planning. In this project, we have been taking the first steps to creating a united approach and identifying the path for London to become a trauma-informed city.
We see the culmination of this work as a starting point for thinking about how we embed trauma-informed practice in London and beyond.
To explore more about the findings of this work, or what embedding trauma-informed practice could look like in your context, please reach out to Megan Keenan or Katie Upsdale at the links below.
Our team
Arielle Garton - Project Executive
Megan Keenan - Project Co-lead
Katie Upsdale - Project Co-lead
Cristina Preece - Research and Design Officer
