Who and what is Black Thrive

Black Thrive is a partnership that works to address the inequalities that negatively impact the mental health and wellbeing of Black people in Lambeth. 

We place the voices of the community at the center to influence policy, service design and delivery and to provide feedback about the community’s experience of services.

What is the issue we are addressing now?

There is a lack of culturally appropriate mental health support services that meet the need of Black communities in Lambeth.

When examining pathways to mental health services in Lambeth, data showed Lambeth Talking Therapies services were 20% less likely to engage Black people with symptoms of common mental illness such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress when compared to their White British counterparts

In April, Black Thrive launched a survey to better understand the impacts that the Coronavirus was having on Black communities. Many of the people that responded shared an urgent need for mental health support from Black therapists who had lived experience of racism and discrimination.

Additionally, the constant exposure Black people have to racialised violence, means despite the resilience we show as a community, there are high levels of community trauma that urgently need to be addressed

It is very important to note that there is no reliable evidence to show that Black people have a biological predisposition to serious mental illness, instead, we have a system riddled with inequality and services that are not inclusive and responsive to diverse experiences and perspectives. 

This is how we aim to fix this problem

We are creating Black-led healing spaces where we aim to bring together Black health and wellbeing practitioners e.g. counselors, therapists etc, of many disciplines to provide mental health support to Black people where current systems do not meet our needs. 

Money should not be a barrier to accessing mental health support, this is why we will ensure the services offered, will be on a pay what you can afford basis. Black people accessing mental wellbeing services through this service can have the option of paying nothing if they cannot afford it but also those who can, will be given the option to pay what they can afford to pay.

We are piloting this service with the aim of sharing our learning with Lambeth’s mental health services as a model on how they too can better meet the needs of Black people in the borough. 

We need to act now and we need to act fast.

Welcome to Black Thrive and we thank you for supporting our work