Supporting young people and youth workers in the face of global conflict and trauma

Youth work is universal, no matter where in the world, or the circumstances, youth work is transformational.

Within this page you will find guides, toolkits and signposts for youth workers and those working with young people in England to help you navigate conversations with young people about global conflict and trauma.

The British Red Cross is accepting donations to fund humanitarian aid for all people affected by current global conflicts, please click below to find out more.

We will continue to update this webpage over the upcoming days and weeks.

Resources for Youth Workers

Additional Resources

Topic	Resource Name	Organisation	Link
Understanding Conflict	Resources to support individuals and organisations working to nurture and protect children and young people following trauma.	UK Trauma Council	Access the resource
Understanding conflict	British Red Cross Teaching Resource: Rules of War	British Red Cross	Access the resource
Understanding conflict	How to talk to children about war	Save the Children	Access the resource
Understanding conflict	Talking to children about war	Barnardo’s	Access the resource
Refugees	Refugee Children	Mentally Healthy Schools	Access the resource
Refugees	Support for people affected by crisis in Ukraine	Refugee Council	Access the resource
UNICEF	Refugee and Migrant Children Europe	UNICEF	Access the resource
UNICEF	Children in Ukraine	UNICEF	Access the resource
Media Literacy	Media Literacy and Fact Finding	Be Internet Citizens	Access the resource
Resilience	Mental Health resources for young people	Boing Boing	Access the resource
Building Peace	Peace Resources and Activities	Woodcraft Folk	Access the resource
Refugees	Journey with an Unaccompanied Child	Courtesy of Refugee Youth Service	Access the resource
Understanding Conflict	Talking to children and young people about war and conflict	Place 2 Be	Access the resource
Understanding Conflict	Understanding Conflict Session Plan	Courtesy of Kinetic	Access the resource
Resilience	Resilience Toolkit	Mind Tools	Access the resource
Understanding Conflict	How to talk about conflict impartially	British Red Cross	Access the resource
Newsthink: Palestine	Use this free teaching resource to explore the rules of war and their importance during conflict, based on the ongoing conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.	British Red Cross	Access the resource
Newsthink: Ukraine	A powerful photo resource to explore how crises affect people	British Red Cross	Access the resource
Resilience	Activities and advice to support your wellbeing and build resilience	British Red Cross	Access the resource
Building Peace	Free lesson plans and teaching materials to explore humanitarianism	British Red Cross	Access the resource
Understanding Conflict	Free teaching resources look at the impact of conflict.	British Red Cross	Access the resource
Refugee Youth Service	An organisation specialising in supporting unaccompanied children and young people	Refugee Youth Service	Access the resource
Refugee Youth	RefugeeYouth exists to combat alienation and despair amongst young refugees and migrants aged 14-21	Refugee Youth	Access the resource
Mentor a young refugee	Any UK resident can apply to become a mentor. Hope for the Young aim to establish a pool of volunteers of different ages, cultural backgrounds, and skills	Hope for the Young	Access the resource
Support for homeless young refugees	Centrepoint support for young homeless refugees	Centrepoint	Access the resource
Integration of refugees	Good practices and challenges for Integration of young refugees	EU Agency for fundamental rights	Access the resource
Unaccompanied young people	London-based charity working with young refugees and asylum seekers aged 11-25, most of whom are alone in the UK without their families	Young Roots	Access the resource
Young refugees and migrants	Our services across the UK give young refugees and migrants opportunities to recover, meet people and start enjoying life in a new country.	Children’s Society	Access the resource
Refugee Youth Service	Site listing resources for local and regional government on Welcoming, protecting and including refugee children.	Child Friendly Cities	Access the resource
Building Peace	Free teaching resources from the CND Peace Education organisation	CND Peace Education	Access the resource

Resources for Young People

Mis/disinformation

• Fact check using Snopes and Full Fact  
• Check who else is reporting on a news item or story 
• Do you know enough about the subject to form a clear view – research 
• Are you displaying bias, perhaps you don’t want/want the information to be true 
• Emotions – remember if a piece of content makes you sad or angry, check it out before you share.  
• Research the author/content creator, have they highlighted any conflict of interest, political preference or sponsorship.  
• ‘reverse image search function’ –See if the image is used elsewhere or for anything else: Search with an image on Google – Computer – Google Search Help 
• Check that the article is recent, especially if it suggests it is ‘news’.  
• Take control and consider seeking out alternate view points. 
• You may choose to ‘Block’ the site.  
• Flag the issue using the platform reporting process.  
• Ignore or remove the content 
• Comment on the issues to alert others of misinformation or disinformation 
• Share link to facts 
• Counter with positivity 
• Remember that the online environment is not always reflective of the reality. 
• Weigh it all up and make an informed decision.   

Additional Resources

Resource Name	Organisation	Link
9 Meaningful ways you can help Ukraine	Global Citizen	Access the Resource
Resilience Toolkit	Mind Tools	Access the toolkit
Mental Health Resources	BoingBoing	Access the resources
All Eyes on Ukraine	First News (newspaper for children & young people)	Access the Resource
Ways to cope with upsetting events in the news	Shout	Visit Shout

Additional Support

Organisation	Link
Young Minds	Visit Youngminds.org.uk
Kooth	Visit Kooth.com
Samaritans	Visit Samaritans.org
Mind	Visit Mind.org.uk
UN Refugee Agency	Visit UNHCR.org
Phone Credit 4 Refugees	Visit PC4R.org

Youth Councils/Parliaments/Forums

Organisation	Link
European Youth Parliament	Visit their website
British Youth Council	Visit their social media
European Youth Forum	Visit their website