Survivors of the Manchester Arena terror attack are channelling their own profound trauma into a powerful force for good, directly supporting educators grappling with the aftermath of the Southport stabbings. In a unique initiative, eight young women who endured the 2017 bombing are mentoring teachers in Sefton, offering invaluable insight born from lived experience to help heal a community shattered by violence.
From Horror to Hope: A Survivor-Led Initiative
The project is a collaboration between the National Emergencies Trust and Lancaster University. It involves Manchester survivors running specialised support workshops for teachers whose pupils were victims of the Southport attack. For individuals like Leanne Lucas, a 37-year-old yoga teacher who was badly injured while helping children to safety during the July 2024 atrocity, this connection has provided a crucial lifeline. “Seeing where the Manchester girls are eight years on gives me a great sense of hope,” Leanne said. “A survivor’s support network is an important part of healing.”
The Southport attack, which took place on 29 July 2024, saw teenage knifeman Axel Rudakubana murder three young girls—Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine—and injure ten others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. The Manchester bombing on 22 May 2017, perpetrated by suicide bomber Salman Abedi, killed 22 people and injured over 1,000, many of them children at an Ariana Grande concert.
Bridging the Gap in School Support
A common thread between both tragedies is that schools were left on the frontline without adequate tools to support traumatised children. Dr Cath Hill, who heads the Manchester survivors group Bee The Difference and is spearheading the scheme, explained the motivation. “The project was born out of people not wanting others to go through what they’ve gone through,” she said. “Schools are not given the tools to navigate such a complex situation. What we’re trying to do is offer that hope using the power of lived experience.”
In two workshops held so far, the second bringing together around 40 teachers, survivors have led Q&A sessions and small group discussions. They highlighted critical gaps in support, such as the lack of information sharing between staff and the re-traumatising effect of frequently retelling their stories. Ruby Bradbourne, 20, who was 11 at the time of the Manchester attack, recounted her struggle. “I had to tell every teacher where I was going for counselling. It was really triggering because I had to explain everything each time,” she said.
Creating a Blueprint for Future Resilience
The insights are already driving practical change. Natasha Sandland, Bebe King’s former headteacher and now head of Sefton’s Virtual School, was inspired to create a ‘fact file passport’ for every affected child in the borough. This document follows pupils even if they change schools, ensuring all teachers are informed. “It stopped us thinking of the horror and instead focused on how we can move things forward,” Natasha said. “What we got from the Manchester young people was how strong, how feisty, how incredibly passionate they were about being successful individuals that weren’t just defined by what had happened to them.”
The workshops, backed by Ikea, aim to continue and potentially expand to other areas impacted by the Southport events. With support from the Department for Education, the project could form a national blueprint for supporting children after future tragedies. Dr Hill envisions a ready group of experienced survivors who can step in when needed. “Each time we meet and share knowledge and experience, we’re creating this even better project which is there for the future,” she stated.
The initiative underscores a vital message of resilience. As survivor Alicia Taylor, 22, now a master’s student at Oxford, noted, schools often mistake quietness for coping. “I really needed people at my school to see me and notice that I was going through something traumatic,” she said. Her hope, and the goal of the project, is that children in Southport will have a profoundly different, and better-supported, path to recovery.
