For facilitators

Holding a 75-minute session

Follow the shape on each session: the card, a short talk, discussion, the activity, private reflection and a closing round. The five minutes at the end are there because sessions run over.

Read the card aloud with its adult wording on screen. Keep the talk to ten minutes; the notes give you three or four points and where each comes from.

Give the activity most of the time, and use the fictional case or a light topic. Nobody works on their own hardest moment in the group.

Passing is always allowed

Say it at the start of every session and mean it. Anyone can pass on any question, any round and any practice, with no reason given.

Never go round a room or a call in an order that leaves someone nowhere to hide. Offer the chat, a nod or silence as equal ways to take part.

When someone shares more than they meant to

Thank them warmly, keep your voice even and do not ask for more detail in front of the group.

Bring the group back to the activity, and check in with the person privately afterwards: ask how they are, and whether they would like help finding support.

Strong feelings are normal in this work. Let them be there, and keep the room safe enough to hold them.

When to refer, and where

Use the care routes your group named in session 0. If a person may be at risk of harm, follow your host organisation's procedure and contact emergency services where needed.

You are not a therapist in this role, and you do not hold someone's safety alone. Tell your co-facilitator or your host, and write down what you did.

Facilitating with someone else

Share the roles before you start: one leads, one watches the room or the chat, keeps time and notices who has gone quiet.

Agree a signal for "I need a pause" or "I will step in". Swap roles from session to session if you can.

Online

Cameras are optional and captions stay on. Use breakouts of three, and give each breakout the activity in writing.

Use the presenter's screen-share layout, which keeps the words large and the safeguarding note off the shared screen.

Use a chat waterfall for closing rounds: everyone types their word and presses enter at the same moment. Anyone can pass.

Your own practice

Do the between-sessions experiment yourself. You will facilitate it better for having tried it.

Have your own peer or supervisor to talk to after a hard session, and take the private debrief below. Holding a group is work, and rest afterwards is part of doing it well.