Supporting the Black Mental Health Manifesto

Research clearly demonstrates that Black people are more likely to experience a common mental health difficulty; they are also sadly at higher risk of suicide. At the same time, they have the lowest treatment rate for mental health difficulties.

These are shocking facts.

Their impact is compounded when you learn that race and ethnicity in themselves are not known risk factors for poor mental health. This points to experiences of systemic and institutional “racism, not race, as an undeniable factor in these disparities.”

In the Black Mental Health Manifesto, the Black Mental Health and Wellbeing Alliance have outlined an important and effective set of demands for our next government. The Manifesto takes a systemic approach to tackling the mental health inequities faced by our Black communities.

These are the headline recommendations of the manifesto:

1. The Government should develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to eradicate racism from society and appoint a cabinet level minister to oversee this.

2. The next Government must prioritise the reform of the Mental Health Act 1983.

3. The government should put an end to ‘hostile environment’ policies which harm or exacerbate mental health problems amongst refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in the UK.

4. All NHS Trusts, VCSE [Voluntary. Community and Social Enterprise] and mental health service providers should embed NHS England’s Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) by March 2025.

5. The Department of Education should work with racialised communities to develop and embed an anti-racist and diverse curriculum that incorporates the histories and contributions of all racialised communities in the UK.

6. Policymakers, academic institutions, and funders should actively invest in and engage with community research conducted by and for Black communities in a meaningful way.

Within the Trust, we are committed to an anti-racist approach across our organisation and are excited to develop more collaborative partnerships with Black, and other racialised communities across the country.

We absolutely recognise our majority whiteness as a charity staff team, and through a range of positive action measures are working hard to recruit a workforce more representative of the families and communities we intend to serve. The proof will be in the pudding and we want our supporters, beneficiaries and all stakeholders, to hold us to account as we work to make our charity more inclusive and relevant for all those supporting children and young people with mental health.