Dr Cath Hill shares Manchester Arena Bombing lessons with Southport teachers
Dr Cath Hill said young survivors of the manchester arena bombing helped Southport teachers support pupils traumatised by the knife attacks that killed three girls on 29 July 2024. The Bee the Difference project brought lived experience into the room, with survivors offering practical examples of what helped after Manchester and what did not.
Bee The Difference
More than 200 young survivors took part in the Bee The Difference research, which was set up in the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack on 22 May 2017. Hill led the work from Lancaster University with the National Emergencies Trust charity, and she said the survivors gave teachers concrete guidance drawn from their own experience.
Hill said the young people offered “hope and practical ways teachers could support those children in Southport.” She also said that having children keep retelling their story to new teachers can be “retraumatising,” and said the survivors helped teachers on “the frontline of dealing with traumatised children.”
Southport Teachers
Hill said the Southport teachers were mentored by young survivors of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, who described what worked for them and what they would want handled better next time. She said the sharing helped teachers know “what to expect” and provided “sharing some hope” in a situation where hope “is not there, especially in the early days.”
She also said the project brought teachers together for peer support, adding: “Although Southport compared to Manchester is a much smaller geographical area, they weren't helping and supporting each other as much as you think might happen,” and, “So just actually bringing them together to have that peer support was really helpful.”
Manchester Arena Attack
The Manchester Arena blast on 22 May 2017 killed 22 people and injured more than 1,000. Hill survived that attack and later founded the Manchester Survivors Choir, while the Bee The Difference research was created to help future survivors of similar attacks. In Southport, the teachers who received the mentoring were dealing with children after an attack that left three girls dead.
The project’s practical value came from comparison, not theory: survivors told teachers what support felt useful after Manchester and what did not. That left Southport staff with examples to draw on as they worked with pupils affected by the 29 July 2024 attacks.
