About | Peace Collective

How we came to be

Peace Collective grew out of a shared frustration — and a shared hope.

As practitioners working directly with people navigating trauma, harm and conflict — in schools, victim services, youth work, and frontline community support — we kept seeing the same patterns repeat.

Too often, systems set up to ‘help’ felt distant or disconnected from people’s realities. Responses were technical when they needed to be human. Transactional when they needed to be relational. Done to people, rather than built with them.

We founded Peace Collective because we wanted to do things differently. Peace Collective is practitioner-led. That matters to us. It keeps us in the work, alongside people.

To build work that stayed close to people’s experiences. To design support that was flexible, relational and grounded in trust. To create spaces that centre care, connection and agency — not control.

And importantly — to stay in practice ourselves. It keeps us close to the people and communities we work alongside. It keeps us learning.

We bring a mix of frontline experience across trauma support, education, conflict resolution and community organising — but most importantly, we bring a commitment to showing up with care, humility and curiosity.

Challenge

We’re living through a time of fear, disconnection and fatigue. Violence — whether structural, political, or personal — is shaping more and more of people’s everyday experience. Dialogue is breaking down. Systems meant to support people often feel transactional, rushed or disconnected from reality.

Our belief

Relationships are the foundation for change — not an afterthought. Trust, care and connection are what allow people and communities to learn, organise, heal and respond to harm in ways that don’t replicate it.

Core purpose

We support people to build emotional and relational strength, repair trust, and recover from conflict and trauma — through work shaped with those affected.

Our aim is not just immediate support, but long-term conditions where safety, accountability and care come first.

What we do

We design and deliver work that:

Helps people develop the skills to prevent harm before it escalates
Creates space for dialogue and repair in places affected by division or disconnection
Offers consistent, trauma-informed support to those navigating the long-term impact of harm

Intended impact

People feel safer, more connected and better equipped to navigate conflict and crisis. Harm is less likely to escalate or repeat. Communities are better able to hold complexity and rebuild trust.

How we work

We work in ways that are participatory, experiential, practical and relational. Our sessions are active and reflective — not just theoretical. We adapt to what’s needed, and stay responsive to context.

Who we work with

Young people + those supporting them

Young people aged 10–25, and the adults around them — including educators, youth workers and carers. We focus on building emotional literacy, resilience and conflict skills, while supporting adults to create safer, more responsive environments.

Communities

Individuals and groups in places experiencing division, mistrust or collective harm. We support grassroots leaders and residents to rebuild connection and strengthen relationships through dialogue and engagement.

Survivors of trauma + violence

People directly affected by terrorism, hate crime, displacement, or systemic harm. We offer long-term, trauma-informed support that centres trust, choice and emotional safety.

More about our team

Will

Will has over a decade of experience leading trauma support services for people impacted by terrorism. As the manager of a specialist team, he co-developed the SENSE model—an intervention framework designed to support individuals in the immediate aftermath of mass incidents. This model has played a critical role in responses to UK terror attacks and now informs much of our trauma-informed training.

Alongside his frontline work, Will has supported and trained councils, schools and emergency response teams in trauma awareness and best practice. His practice combines deep expertise with personal testimony, offering practical tools and grounded insights into what trauma-informed support really looks like. Will brings a rare combination of leadership, understnading and compassion to his role at Peace Collective.

Say hello and learn more by contacting Will at william.roberts@peace-collective.org

Ciara

Ciara is an educator and safeguarding lead with more than nearly two decades of experience supporting schools, outreach and frontline support for young people. As a previous Head of Year and pastoral leader, she’s worked closely with vulnerable students and families, overseeing large wellbeing programmes and building inclusive environments where young people feel seen, heard and safe.

Ciara leads our holistic schools offering, incorporating safeguarding, trauma-informed and restorative approaches into school systems and practices, helping teams develop the tools and confidence to support young people navigating crisis or instability. Her work is driven by care, clarity and a deep commitment to social justice. At Peace Collective, she draws on her educational background and her lived practice to support projects focused on youth voice, belonging and systems change.

Say hello and learn more by getting in contact with Ciara at ciara.kinsella@peace-collective.org

Harriet

Harriet brings a mix of facilitation expertise, strategic insight and relational experience. With over a decade of experience, her work spans peace education, resilience building and conflict transformation, combining facilitation, curriculum design and community engagement. Harriet has delivered group traning processes and structured dialogues across national and international settings—from post-conflict communities in Northern Ireland, to Canada and across Europe, to displaced and crisis-affected groups across the UK.

A strong thread through her work is her commitment to youth leadership and critical education—supporting and giving voice to young people and those who support them, to build emotional literacy, challenge harmful narratives and lead positive change. In recent years, she’s focused on co-production and structured dialogue with diverse communities, in addition to designing training for VCSE organisations and public sector teams, and contributing to research and policy development.

Say hello and get in contact with Harriet at harriet.vickers@peace-collective.org

An important note

Whilst a small team, we come from a variety of personal experiences and professional backgrounds, however we fully realise that the Peace Collective, currently does not fully reflect the racial or cultural diversities of the communities we work alongside and with.

For this reason partnership, accountability, and co-creation are central components of all our consultation and activity. We do not position ourselves as experts, but rather develop relationships and offer a practitioner led approach. We prefer to work alongside individuals and groups, to share learning and build collective leadership.

We are interested in creating advisory structures and partnerships which actively challenge and inform our practice. We want to ensure that we remain relevant, transparent, and accountable. It is important for us to maintain open and honest engagement with all the communities we meet.

Contact

Peace Collective isn’t just a name — it’s how we work. We’re a small team, but we work in partnership and collective practice, often alongside other brilliant facilitators, organisers, educators and practitioners.

If you're someone who works relationally — with care, rigour, and commitment to doing good work — and you think your approach might align with ours, we’d love to hear from you.

We’re always open to new collaborations, co-facilitation, or working together on projects that centre healing, justice and connection.

Interested in working with us?

Fill out the form opposite or email us at info@peace-collective.org — and we’ll be in touch.