Third-sector and community organisations
We have compiled a list of community organisations to accompany 'Making Black lives matter in the criminal justice system. A guide for antiracist lawyers'
Therapeutic support
Online
Black River Counselling is a free online counselling service for people of Black African or African-Caribbean heritage. It exists to meet the mental health and wellbeing needs of the Black community.
National
The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network
The Black, African and Asian Therapy Network is a database of Black, African and Asian therapists in the UK who work specifically with people of colour.
Regional
Khulisa provides intensive therapeutic support and mentoring for young people who are at risk of, or have already become caught up in, violent or anti-social behaviour. Khulisa works in schools, prisons and communities in Manchester, London and Birmingham.
London
Black Minds Matter works with young people and their communities across the London Borough of Wandsworth to improve Mental Health access, awareness and action.
Partisan provides culturally competent therapeutic support for people who may feel uncomfortable with or judged by traditional mental health services, working alongside children, young people, families and communities. It is based in London.
4FRONT empowers young people who are directly impacted by violence and the criminal justice system, centring healing, transformative justice and racial justice. 4FRONT specialises in providing culturally-specific services for Black people. It is based in London.
Power the Fight has developed a Therapeutic Intervention for Peace programme which is now being piloted across London. The programme provides culturally competent therapy to young people, families and frontline staff engaging/impacted by violence that affects young people.
Youth work and spaces for young people
National
SOLVE: The Centre for Youth Violence and Conflict
SOLVE is a Community Interest Company which addresses the causes of violence and conflict through research, training and service delivery across the UK. SOLVE runs a street-based detached youth work programme and delivers workshops for young people and training for professionals who work with them, including training on anti-racist practice.
Regional
The St Giles Trust provides a range of services in London, Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk and the West Midlands. Caseworkers based in hospitals and police custody suites work with young people who are at risk of or involved in criminal exploitation. The St Giles Trust also provides employment services for adults and young people who face additional barriers, supports people with multiple needs around substance misuse, mental health, homelessness and criminal justice involvement, and provides family support.
Kids of Colour creates spaces for young people of colour to come together and explore race, identity and culture, and supports them to challenge the racism they face. It is based in Greater Manchester.
84YOUTH are a youth led organisation based in Manchester, with young people deciding on the direction of the project. They aim to deal with the causes of youth violence and challenge the gang narrative through work with young men in particular. 84YOUTH contextualise young people and youth issues within a problematic society and refuse to view young people in isolation or as being the problem. They know that neglecting to explore and challenge social problems and inequalities that impact on the lives of young people is counter-productive and that they must be integral to creating a fairer society.
London
Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health
BLAM offers young people a more comprehensive and diverse education, a safe space where their mental health and general feelings can be discussed, and a chance to explore their interests and passions with consistent support from their local community. BLAM provides school exclusion support for Black children and runs Racial Trauma and wellness workshops for Black people aged 18+. It is primarily based in Brixton, but also works in boroughs across London.
Bruce Grove is a youth space in Haringey, north London which runs a programme of sports activities and provides opportunities to young people who hope to enter the music industry. The space is closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, but continues to support young people with their mental health, emotional well-being and music development.
Juvenis provides bespoke support and training for young people who are experiencing difficulties at school, home or in the community, helping them to engage or reengage with employment, education and training. Juvenis delivers DIVERT, a Metropolitan Police Service programme which connects young people who are leaving police custody with a youth worker. DIVERT is currently based at Brixton/Walworth police station.
Peckham Studios is a multi-functional studio space in south-east London, offering a creative environment for both professional musicians and aspiring young people. The studio provides free youth music programmes for young people aged between 13-19, thanks to support and funding from The National Foundation for Youth Music and Southwark Council.
Learning, training and mentoring
National
Black History Studies seeks to inform, inspire and empower people through Black History and Black Studies by educating the community throughout the UK to educate themselves. This includes workshops and presentations on Black history, financial education and health and wellbeing.
Leap supports young people (aged 11-25) who have grown up in care, have been excluded from mainstream education, live in inner-city communities or are in the secure estate to manage conflict and achieve their goals. Leap also offers training for professionals who work with young people.
StandOut provides coaching and personalised support to people who are leaving prison. In May 2020, it launched a helpline for people who have recently left prison.
Regional
Spark Inside delivers coaching programmes in prisons across London and the South East, including a life coaching programme for young Black men in prison. Hero’s Journey™ from a Black Perspective was co-designed with young Black men with lived experience of imprisonment and addresses their specific experiences.
London
Switchback provides intensive one-to-one support and work training for young adult prison leavers (aged 18-30) in London.
The KORI mentoring programme provides Black, Asian and minority ethnic young people (aged 14 to 30) with personally tailored support to help them succeed in a range of industries. The programme is London-wide and focuses on young people who would otherwise be isolated or vulnerable due to a lack of financial support, caring guidance and access to the opportunities needed to fulfil adult lives.
The Bernie Grant Arts Centre is a venue in Tottenham, north London, which seeks to reduce bias in the arts world. The Centre delivers creative learning programmes in the local community and in Haringey schools.
Spark2Life is a community-inspired initiative that empowers and advocates for offenders, and those at risk of offending. Its bespoke solutions for transforming lives and disrupting the criminal justice system include detached street work in Barking & Dagenham and Waltham Forest, Community Mentoring in Waltham Forest and Lewisham, trauma-informed mentoring at Waltham Forest’s Pupil Referral Units, and intensive casework and mentoring (particularly around education, training and employment) in Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Lewisham and Redbridge.
Bounce Back is a charity and social enterprise focused on the training and employment of people in and leaving prison. Bounce Back supports people to find paid employment in the construction industry. Its team of case managers engage with participants while they are in prison and support them on release for up to a year (or longer if required), as well as providing training in the community. Bounce Bank currently delivers training in prison at Brixton, Isis, Wandsworth, Pentonville, Feltham and Leeds, and training in the community at its Westminster head office, the Crisis head office in Shoreditch and probation offices across London.
Services for women and girls
National
The Muslim Women’s Network operates a national specialist faith and culturally sensitive helpline for Muslim women across the UK, and a culturally sensitive counselling service for Muslim women in Birmingham.
Clean Break delivers theatre workshops and projects in prisons and in the community which build confidence, resilience and wellbeing, transforming the lives of women who have experienced the criminal justice system or who are at risk of entering it.
London
Abianda is a London-based social enterprise that works with young women affected by gangs and county lines, and the professionals who support them.
Cassandra Centre is a charity based in Norbury, south west London, providing counselling, education and support to those affected by domestic abuse. It works with all those affected by and at risk of domestic abuse, including perpetrators, in a bid to break the cycle of abuse.
Milk and Honey Bees is an expressive safe space that allows young women and girls flourish and take ownership of H.E.R (Healing, Empowerment and Resilience) through 1:1 sessions and creative group projects. Milk and Honey is involved in the Black Girl Global Justice Initiative. It is based in Brixton.
Sistah Space works with Black women and girls who have experienced domestic or sexual abuse or who have lost a loved one to domestic violence. It is based in Hackney.
Anima Youth is a Community Interest Company which aims to remove barriers faced by young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and support them to transition smoothly into an independent life, through youth-led projects that address their needs. It has a specialism in the issues faced by young women, but also runs projects which focus on mental health and career guidance for all young people. It is based in London.
Youth Realities is a youth-led organisation based in Barnet, addressing teenage relationship abuse through creative education and specialist, survivor-centred support.
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