Our Gloucester-based Complex Emotional Needs (CEN) service has been honoured with the prestigious ‘Team of the Year’ award at the 2026 National British and Irish Group Study for Personality Disorders conference.
The award ceremony took place at a Gala Dinner in Blackpool on Wednesday 17 June, where Amelia Kilsby, a Lived Experience Practitioner, and Rosie Clements, a Specialist Practitioner, two of the original team members who joined the CEN service in September 2021, collected the award. This accolade celebrates the team’s innovative approach, unwavering commitment to coproduction, and passion for trauma-informed care.
The CEN service works systemically, supporting people that support people who experience high levels of distress. They also deliver 3 direct support services which are the Open Access Therapeutic Service (OATS), the Frequent Engagement Response Network (FERN) and the Peer Support offered by the lived experience team.
Family support and psychoeducation is recognised as essential to recovery in the fields of psychosis and addiction, yet families of people with complex emotional needs have not been routinely offered this. Gloucestershire has been pioneering in its approach with 1:1 and group-based interventions. Our CEN Friends and Family Courses have been evaluated by the university of Plymouth as we now have 12 cohorts’ worth of data, all showing the profound benefits of the group. The research team are keen for Gloucestershire’s approach to families to be benchmarked as good practice. Our Trust board have embraced the learning and are meeting with the family researchers who produced the paper.
