The impact of our researcher development progamme is evident in the award of significant funding to one of the recent recipients of our Research Workshop Grant Scheme. 

Dr. Tegan Brierley-Sollis has received £15,000 from Adverse Childhood Experiences Hub Wales to develop her project, Police Peer Supervision to Support Wellbeing and contribute to the development of trauma-informed approaches and resources for Criminal Justice Wales. 

This project aims to contribute towards ‘a healthier Wales’ by focusing on the mental well-being of police staff. More broadly, this sort of work can demonstrate how improved conditions for staff within a range of public organisations, such as the police, can lead to improved service provision by reducing employee burnout and sickness.  

The success of Dr. Brierley-Sollis’ application was built upon the grant she received from the Society through our Grant Scheme and which was used to run a series of workshops that helped develop her subsequent bid. 

The first workshop took place on Monday 11th March 2024 and was attended by the project team and colleague from North Wales Police. The discussion covered issues relating to vicarious trauma and secondary traumatic stress within a policing context and current wellbeing provision. There was feedback provided on the proposed peer supervision model, as well as how to make the research process suitable for a policing environment. 

A subsequent workshop in April built on this work and provided an opportunity for other North Wales Police staff members to give their feedback on the proposals. 

Following the first workshop, the research team and North Wales Police received additional funding of £15,000 from the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Hub Wales to carry out the project. ACE Hub Wales are partnering with North Wales Police and Wrexham University to implement the Trauma and ACE informed organisational toolkit in both institutions, and were pleased to be able to contribute to this work as a collaborating partner. 

“We were thrilled to hear of Dr. Brierley-Sollis’ success,” said Barbara Ibinarriaga Soltero, who manages the Society’s researcher development work and oversees the research grant scheme. 

“This is precisely what the grant scheme was intended for: to give researchers the initial funding that can sometimes be hard to get but which can open doors and lead to further funding success. 

“Tegan had previously presented her work at one of our ECR Network events, ‘Creating Well-being: Research and Practice’. These networking opportunities, alongside the grants themselves, are a core part of the Learned Society’s work and demonstrate how we are meeting our strategic commitment to support Wales current and future experts.” 

The grant scheme for 2024-25 will reopen for applications later in the year.