Always on
This project successfully funded on 4th April 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
This project successfully funded on 4th April 2026, you can still support them with a donation.
Providing trauma and substance addiction education & awareness, alongside help & support to communities and organizations
Hi! We are Brown Girl in a Bottle CIC A.K.A Aunee & Dilesh.
Who we are:
We both have lived and professional experience of trauma and addiction and between us we have worked with multiple individuals, families and organisations.
Dilesh has over 10 years’ experience working within substance use services, supporting hundreds of individuals and families through treatment and recovery. His specialist area is working with diverse and South Asian communities, where stigma, trauma and lack of culturally appropriate support can prevent people from accessing help. He has been a lead developer of work with diverse communities, building trusted pathways into drug and alcohol treatment by working closely with community leaders, faith spaces, grassroots groups and families. This includes supporting the development of community-led projects such as the Spinney Hill Project in Leicester, The Sikh Recovery Network and Bounce Bac Recovery. Alongside his substance use work, Dilesh also works within the domestic abuse sector, delivering the Changing Harmful Attitudes and Behaviour Programme, which focuses on working with perpetrators within the South Asian community to challenge behaviour, address trauma and support lasting change. Through Brown Girl in a Bottle CIC, Dilesh brings both professional experience and deep cultural understanding to help break silence, reduce stigma and create safer conversations around trauma, addiction and recovery.
Aunee is a lived experience advocate for trauma and addiction, alongside being a peer mentor and supporting individuals and families impacted by substance addiction. Professionally she has 2 roles with the Royal College of Psychiatrists within the Addictions faculty and within the ACTION team, she is a co-opted member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), she is a peer researcher with Queen Mary’s University where she is involved in the creation of cultural competency training for NHS and service provider staff. Finally she has trained multiple organizations and spoken at multiple events and conferences including FREEVA, Forward Trust, Revival project, Alcohol Change UK and many more.
Project Aims:
The aim of the project is to work with communities to challenge the current stigmas, taboos and shame associated with the topics of trauma and substance addiction which present barriers to individuals and families when reaching out for help. Providing much needed help, support and signposting to individuals and families impacted by trauma and substance addiction and providing education to communities and organizations through delivering talks and specialized workshops with both professionals and individuals with lived experience.
How will we use the money:
The money we raise will be used to finish of the project film documentary, this film takes you through the journey of Aunee Bhogaita, a south Asian woman who experienced child sexual abuse, mental health issues including depression and suicidal tendencies, domestic abuse and addiction. The film focuses on her journey from addiction into recovery and highlights the challenges and barriers that she and her family faced when navigating both active addiction and trying to access support, alongside highlighting what it means to be a child sexual abuse survivor within the South Asian Community. Aunee’s parents speak bravely about what being from the South Asian community means and the impact of cultural expectations on them when trying to support Aunee. The impact on Aunee’s children is also heard and they speak about the impact that Aunee’s addiction and recovery had on their lives.
This film documentary is not only a personal story but rather the story of millions of people, people that are either still trapped in the cycle of abuse and addiction or silenced due to cultural constraints. It challenges the ideology that trauma and addiction does not exist within communities such as the South Asian community, alongside shedding light on the many support services that are out there.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made