Running a safe anti-bullying workshop in your community

Communities — faith groups, supplementary schools, youth clubs, cultural associations — are often the first place young people feel safe enough to talk about bullying. A well-run workshop can equip young people with knowledge, skills, and a sense that they’re not alone. A poorly run one can do real harm. This guide is for community leaders who want to do it well.

Before you start: safeguarding comes first

If you’re running a workshop for young people, safeguarding is not optional. Before you plan anything else, make sure you have:

• A designated safeguarding lead (DSL) — someone trained in child protection who’s present and identifiable
• DBS checks for all facilitators and volunteers working with under-18s
• A safeguarding policy — written, accessible, and explained to participants at the start
• A clear disclosure procedure — what will happen if a young person tells you they’re being hurt? Who do you tell? How do you record it?
• Parental consent — for under-16s, written consent from a parent or carer, including emergency contact details
• Two adults present at all times — never one adult alone with young people

If you don’t have these in place, don’t run the workshop yet. BRA can help you access training and templates — get in touch.

Designing the agenda

A 2-3 hour workshop is the sweet spot — long enough to do real work, short enough to hold attention. Here’s a tested agenda you can adapt:

Workshop agenda (2.5 hours)

1. Welcome and ground rules (15 min) — introductions, confidentiality agreements, safeguarding info, exit routes
2. What is bullying? (20 min) — define it together, look at different types, distinguish from conflict
3. Real stories (20 min) — anonymised case studies or a guest speaker with lived experience. This is the heart of the workshop.
4. Bystanders and upstanders (25 min) — the 5 D’s, role-play scenarios, what gets in the way of intervening
5. Break (15 min)
6. Online safety (20 min) — current platforms, reporting tools, what counts as cyberbullying
7. Where to get help (15 min) — helplines, trusted adults, BRA resources, what to do in a crisis
8. Closing and check-out (20 min) — reflections, what we’ll take away, how to stay connected

Facilitation principles

How you facilitate matters as much as what you cover. The key principles:

• Small groups — 8-15 young people maximum. Larger groups silence the quiet ones.
• Mixed ages carefully — 13-15 year olds and 16-18 year olds have different needs. Run separate sessions if possible.
• No forced sharing — young people can pass. Always offer ‘I’d rather not say’ as an option.
• Ground rules upfront — confidentiality (‘what’s said here stays here, unless someone’s unsafe’), respect, no naming individuals, right to leave
• Food and comfort — provide snacks, drinks, comfortable seating. Young people don’t engage when they’re hungry or uncomfortable.
• Movement and variety — mix up formats: small group, whole group, pairs, individual reflection. No more than 20 minutes of anyone talking at them.

Handling disclosures

If you’re doing this workshop well, there’s a real chance a young person will disclose that they’re being bullied — or worse. You need to be ready. The moment it happens:

1. Stay calm. Don’t gasp, don’t cry, don’t show shock.
2. Listen. Let them finish. Don’t interrupt with questions.
3. Believe them. ‘Thank you for telling me. I’m so sorry this is happening.’
4. Don’t promise secrecy. ‘I may need to tell someone who can help keep you safe, but I’ll talk to you about it first.’
5. Don’t investigate. Your job isn’t to establish facts — it’s to listen and refer.
6. Refer to your DSL immediately after the conversation. They’ll handle next steps.
7. Follow up with the young person within a week. Show them you haven’t forgotten.

Have a quiet space ready where a young person can talk privately if they need to. Make sure your DSL knows the workshop is happening and is available.

Cultural context matters

If you’re running this workshop in a diaspora community — a supplementary school, a church or mosque youth group, a cultural association — the cultural context is part of the work. Some specific considerations:

• Authority and respect — many diaspora communities have strong norms about respecting elders. This can make it hard for young people to disclose bullying by adults or older peers. Acknowledge this explicitly.
• Identity-based bullying — colourism, hair-based bullying, accent mocking, and tribalism are real in diaspora communities. Don’t shy away from them.
• Language — some young people may be more comfortable in Pidgin, Yoruba, Twi, or another heritage language. Bilingual facilitators are gold.
• Faith — if the workshop is in a faith setting, be aware that some young people may have experienced faith-based bullying (either from outside the community or within it). Handle with care.
• Family expectations — some young people may worry that telling their parents about bullying will bring shame or cause the parents to overreact. Help them think through how to talk to their families.

After the workshop

The workshop is the beginning, not the end. Follow up with:

• A short survey (anonymous) asking what they learned and what could be better
• A resource list — links to BRA’s resources, helplines, and a recap of what was covered
• An invitation to stay connected — a WhatsApp group (with safeguarding rules), a follow-up session, or a peer support group
• A debrief with your facilitation team — what worked, what didn’t, any disclosures and how they were handled