CST initiative to provide psychological help to victims of terror

Network of Jewish volunteers to be trained up so they can offer assistance after traumatic incidents

A new initiative to provide psychological support to victims of terror attacks and other major disasters is to be launched by the Community Security Trust.

A network of Jewish volunteers will be trained up and on hand to respond to traumatic incidents across the country, whether those impacted are Jewish or not. The project will be led by a team of professional psychologists and psychotherapists.

The first training session will take place this weekend in north London.

CST chief executive David Delew said: “It has taken considerable planning to reach this stage, and the events of recent months show that it is happening not a moment too soon. We do invite other members of the community with the correct professional expertise to contact CST and volunteer to help with this sadly necessary initiative, which we intend to offer across the UK.”

The CST is already seen as a model for relations between communities and law enforcement and help to inspire the creation of Tel MAMA, the Muslim community’s hate crime reporting service.

It is hoped that the new initiative will in time be extended to provide specialist psychological support to victims of anti-Semitism.