Dr Beverley Samways has more than 20 years of professional and research experience in the care sector supporting young people with severe learning disabilities, sensory loss and autism. She is the founder-director of the social enterprise Unique Connections, which exists to improve the lives of individuals with learning disabilities who self-injure or are distressed.
Bev recently completed a Churchill Fellowship, spending five weeks in the US exploring trauma-informed approaches to supporting people with learning disabilities. Her report, focusing on how trauma-informed practice can help build resilience back into the UK care sector, can be found here.
How did it all start?
‘I was in the middle of a gratitude storm, as I wrote an enthusiastic email to Basecamp last month. Our social enterprise, Unique Connections, had just completed two years as a registered company, a major milestone if you know anything about the early drop off rate for start-ups. We had not just survived, we had thrived, declaring a small profit, which as a non-profit social enterprise, means we can start a pro bono fund and give away more than £1K to organisations in alignment with our vision and values.
Unique Connections started as a dream in my heart, but now it’s an actual thing in the world, and it got nurtured through Basecamp Enterprise.
In 2021, Unique Connections didn’t exist. It was an un-named idea only, which I tried to articulate in my application to join the Foundership scheme*. I was accepted on the programme, which introduced me to a bunch of people in the same boat, and we began to dream for each other, and spur each other on, alongside learning the foundations of launching a business through seminars and workshops. I completed the programme with a small pot of funding, and used it to establish the business name, pay a logo creator, buy the domain and launch the website (it’s literally never too early).
In February 2022, I was accepted onto the Growth Support Programme. I was partnered with a mentor, the spectacular Chris Carter, who is still on the journey with me. She encouraged and coached me to treat this idea as a viable growing business and to dream big. Once again, there was an array of seminars and workshops, and the opportunity to meet with specialists in finance, business law and marketing. At the end of the programme, I had a business plan, financial forecasts, and a clear vision, to take to the New Enterprise Competition. I pitched my heart out, and won £5000.
On Boxing Day 2023, Unique Connections was officially founded, quickly registering as a social enterprise, as planned.
As we head into year three, I work pretty much full time for the organisation, alongside Jen Cavendish, our part-time specialist advisor. We have brought on a second director and we are forming an advisory board. In short, we’re growing. And most importantly, we’ve had the privilege of working with different young people with learning disabilities and autism, many of whom self-injure, and come alongside the organisations that support them. And it all started at Basecamp.’
*no longer runs!
Who are Unique connections?
‘We’re self-injury specialists on a mission to change the game for people with learning disabilities and autism and the organisations supporting them.
We work with schools and care organisations to find relational and emotionally-literate ways forward with people who self-injure or are showing signs of distress. Our core offer is a tailored self-injury support package for frontline teams, equipping them with new tools, for identifying and overcoming the root causes of self-injury with the individual they are supporting. In parallel to this, we collaborate with leadership teams to embed trauma-informed principles across culture and systems, empowering them to foster an environment of emotional safety, empathetic connections, and compassionate support.
We embrace this dual approach because we firmly believe that enduring change for individuals in distress is most effectively achieved when it occurs alongside culture transformation.
All of Unique Connections’ work starts finding the unique point of connection with the individual and with the organisation. Because everyone is made for connection. No exceptions.’
You can keep up with the team through their podcast: Unique Connections at the Table or by subscribing to the mailing list on the website.