Mandem and Galdem, Lets Talk - mental health programmes for young Black people in schools and HMP Brixton

We are seeking £30,000 to deliver specialist, long-term poetry-based mental health programmes for 140 young Black people in Brixton schools and HMP Brixton through Mandem, Let’s Talk and Galdem, Let’s Talk.

Facilitated by our community-led team of young, specialist practitioners, these creative interventions use poetry as a tool for joy, connection, and empowerment. Through culturally responsive workshops, participants explore mental health, identity, culture, community and emotional resilience, while building trusted peer connections that reduce their loneliness, isolation, and anxiety.

Working with young people aged 13-16 in schools and 18-30 in prison, we will deliver seven 10-week programmes (4 Mandem, Let’s Talk and 3 Galdem, Let’s Talk), each engaging 20 participants in single-gender spaces designed for safety and belonging. Over the past three years, Mandem, Let’s Talk has engaged 500+ young Black men across Lambeth and Southwark, 70% of whom had never accessed mental health support, and 85% reporting improved ability to manage their health and wellbeing. Galdem, Let’s Talk extends this impact to young Black women, co-created in response to their need for holistic, culturally grounded support.

Young Black people continue to face disproportionate exposure to systemic harm, discrimination, and criminalisation, while being less likely to receive appropriate mental health care. Within prisons, over 50% of the population experience poor mental health, and are ten times more likely to experience psychosis. Our programmes offer early intervention, creating spaces of safe vulnerability, connection, and collective care. Poetry provides evidence-based mental health benefits - supporting stress reduction, emotional regulation, and positive behavioural change - helping participants understand their emotions, identify their needs, and develop safe and healthy coping mechanisms.

Grounded in community, care, and collective resistance, our spaces empower young people to support one another, creating measurable improvements in wellbeing. While not clinical, these programmes provide a powerful, culturally responsive alternative to traditional services, strengthening resilience and preventing crisis escalation.

Our confidence in this programme’s impact is rooted in over a decade of grassroots experience in Brixton. We have delivered Mandem, Let’s Talk and a wide range of creative mental health initiatives, youth employment programmes, and transformative education in schools, youth spaces, and prisons. We have direct experience working alongside 25 schools and most recently, with our Patron George the Poet, in HMP Brixton where we supported participants to develop mental health-focused poetry which was then broadcasted on National Prison Radio. Here, we ensure young people’s voices are amplified, and that upon release, they remain connected to our community for ongoing care, support, and empowerment. Hundreds of young Black people from Brixton have already built confidence, accessed healing, and expressed themselves through poetry and connection in our spaces, with over 85% reporting improvements to their wellbeing, and 90% reporting experiences of joy and connection.