Anti-Racism Statement

A statement from Bearwood Community Hub in relation to our Better Mental Health project for people in our community who are of Black, Black British, Caribbean or African heritage. 

The Bearwood Community Hub Community Wellbeing Service is open to all in our community.  As part of our commitment to reducing health inequalities we sometimes target our work to particular communities of people, where we or others have recognised barriers to participation. 

The development of the Sandwell Mental Health Strategy highlighted communities within Sandwell who would benefit from additional support for their mental health and wellbeing, or experience greater barriers to accessing support. One of those communities includes people of Black, Black British, Caribbean or African heritage.  

In late 2023, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council asked local organisations to propose projects which would help reduce the mental health inequalities experienced by the individuals from this community.  

At Bearwood Community Hub we recognised that our Community Wellbeing Service could make an impact in increasing the number of people from the Black community who could receive mental wellbeing support from our service.   This does not mean that other communities do not need targeted support.  But while we are not big enough to make an impact across all communities with our small service, we have chosen to trial targeted interventions in this way according to a) our experience of who is and isn’t accessing our service and b) who the local authority has identified as in particular need. We still hold many spaces open for people across our community, whatever their heritage. 

We and our Wellbeing Practitioner have been accused of racism as a result of this targeted approach.  We stand firmly and confidently in the knowledge that this is not racism. Bearwood Community Hub stands firmly against racism in all its forms. 

We recognise that racism is a systemic issue that perpetuates inequality and injustice in our society, including the health inequalities we are trying ro reduce. 

Our targeted approach is not racist, it is recognising that we may need to adapt the way we work to encourage those who most need support to come forward to access it. 

We believe that everyone has a role to play in dismantling racism, and our Community Wellbeing Service Better Mental Health project is just one of the many ways that we are playing our part. 

We are open to challenge and challenging conversations so please do get in touch if you read this and would like to discuss further.  

The Bearwood Hub Team