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What we do
This is where we’re learning we can be most helpful
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Developing alternative help systems that centre marginalised and racialised communities
Building capacity within communities
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Embodying approaches that share power, knowledge and resources
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Partisan’s GOALS
We have the following goals, all of which centre marginalised and racialised communities:
GOAL 1: Develop alternative help systems
GOAL 2: Build capacity internally and within communities
GOAL 3: Embody approaches internally and with communities that share power, knowledge and resources
Our Approach to Change
Partisan’s Planetary System
Partisan thinks about its ecology as the places, people and communities of practice who are pushing for a future world; where help systems centre repair and healing for marganalised and racialised communities.
We know who some of these are already, but our strategy over the next 3-5 years is to grow our network beyond mental health and the youth sector, asking current and new relationships for help to do this. To develop more of a sense as to who else is trying to shift their mindset and unlearn that the current colonial system is fit for purpose, and moving towards alternatives. We imagine that these may not be mental health professionals, and could be campaigners, justice worker, lawyers, African Centred Psychologists, change makers etc. Practitioners in a different field but applying similar principles. We really want to test the boundaries and remit of who we can work and learn from, and with.
Partisan is approaching it with an openness and willingness to let go of everything we thought to be true to discover knowledge old and new. Which is exciting because we don’t know where we might be next year, as we haven’t really tested the boundaries enough of what people are doing and what’s been done.
Partisan Planet: Our Approach to Change
We believe an approach to change to be more active than a theory of change. It’s the action that we are taking to start to address some of the challenges, problems, and inequalities we found marginalised and racialised communities to be experiencing in our analysis of current help systems.
Partisan’s Principles
Partisan’s principles, the 4R’s, have been specifically chosen to enable us to pull away from the capitalist and colonial systems that have been recreating the inequalities and harms we see in the world today (in particular for our marginalised and racialised communities) and towards a more equitable and collaborative future.
Why we need them?
The principles are giving us the drivers
We want to learn through our work about what is needed
They all need to be present for us to do the work, but may be at different frequencies throughout. We ask ourselves why?
We feel that both the individual and combined use of the principles helps us to explicitly create a different way of being between ourselves as a team, and those we work and partner with. We are seeking to learn how to bring these to life with the communities and partners we currently work with and as a way of reaching out to and collaborating with future partners.
The 4R’s:
Relationships
We recognise that the current system doesn’t value the time it takes to build trust and relationships, which is core to change work at an individual, community and systems level.
Relationships move at the speed of trust; sometimes this is a two step dance between process and relationships, depending on what is needed. We take the time to understand ours and others relationship patterns and experiences before doing the hard work of change together. We expect rupture as a normal part of life and invest time in repair.
Repair
We recognise that the current system has harmed and continues to traumatises marginalised and racialised communities. Repair requires a long term commitment; it is multifaceted.
We are re-defining what healing is with our communities. We are committed to learning more reparative practices and approaches to support the healing that needs to happen in order for people to live their preferred story.
Regenerative
We recognise that the current system is extractive and continues to uphold white supremacy, heteropatriarchy and all the dominant practices that oppress.
We recognise that communities hold ideas and strength, and believe in the Ghanaian principles of ‘Sankofa’; going back to acknowledge and learn from what has been done, so as not to make the same mistakes. This builds on ancestral and cultural wisdom, as well as existing strengths in the community to create change that can be sustained, retained and built on.
Re-distribute
We recognise that power, knowledge and resources are currently held by a few.
We use approaches that actively disrupt this, focusing on participation of those who are most marginalised and racialised. We prioritise redistribution and give collective agency to make changes, not only because this is fairer, but because it makes most sense to centre those most affected by these issues as they have the most insight, ingenuity and value to add.
Test, Learn and Adapt over time
As we are working with the complex and systemic issues facing communities, we need a way of learning that is dynamic and adaptable. A learning approach that can respond as fast as things change and is a way of life for Partisan, a culture and paradigm shift in itself.
We work with a learning partner and build and learn in context and have structured the organisation around its weekly learning spaces. We draw on a range of tools to help us, developing a culture of collective responsibility and impact. We learn through failure and welcome the growth that it brings.
Who we’ve partnered with
Collaboration is key to our process
What People Say
“I appreciated the flexibility of this therapeutic approach… working outside of clinics, but still thinking and following clinical processes just the same. The biggest learning I took away from this work is the importance of good trusted relationships; with the people we support therapeutically, but also the community who often hold existing relationships with the people who need our support the most, but who often go unseen. This was key to the success of the work.”
— Mental Health Specialist
“I felt very comfortable, I was given all the choice; where I wanted to meet, what I wanted to talk about, how I wanted to go about things. It made me feel more free and less overwhelmed… I’ve had therapists before and I never really felt a connection nor the satisfaction of speaking to that person. I was just there because people would tell me “you need help” or “therapy helps”… this was different, he would always try to make me feel okay and reassure me that I shouldn’t suppress certain emotions just because I am a man… It came to the point where I was looking forward to going to the sessions and I ain’t ever felt like dat before about therapy”
— Young Person
“Introducing therapy to young people in locations they chose and where they felt comfortable, rather than the usual traditional settings meant they were more open to engaging. It was adaptable to meet the needs of them… It was a good experience for me; working alongside specialists gave me the opportunity to develop my knowledge and learn new things in the field of mental health … they seemed to also learnt a lot from me too. It gave me a different outlook on the work I do and gave me the confidence to better support with low level mental health difficulties”
— Youth Worker
“I am truly grateful to you for instilling hope in young people and supporting me with my own self care practices too… You have been instrumental in changing my mindset, and shifting how I view everyday situations with the young people we come into contact with... especially those who have encountered traumatic experiences. I’m truly humbled to have you supporting our charity, and my hope is that more young black men in particular experience the benefits of therapeutic support from you.”
— Charity Managing Director
Developing highly flexible therapeutic support outside of clinics