The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

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The PAVE Project Report
categorization, including details on the services provided by the groups, is presented
in the next chapter.
3.2. DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUPS
FORMATION OF THE GROUPS AND STAFFING
I
n total, 26 groups took part in the study. These groups were formed between the
years 1971 and 2002. Most of the groups were formed in 1998 onwards (Figure
1). Many of these groups were founded by people who themselves had been bereaved
or injured through the Troubles and who had experienced the lack of available support
first hand. These people took it upon themselves to set up victims support for others
with similar experiences. For instance, interviewee S, who lost his brother in the late
1970s and worked in the group since its formation, talked about his experience:
“I was probably fairly well self-resolved, by the time I started work here [name
of a group], but my work here opened up a lot of hurt and a lot of pain and
triggered trauma that I had had in the past. … people understood if you’re having a
bad day, there was understanding there, which was important, sort of
reaffirming.”
Some members of the groups had been involved setting up the group. Interviewee C, a
widow, explained how her group began: