What we do

At Partisan, we work in collaboration with community groups and grassroots organisations to ensure our practice remains connected to the people we serve.

All our work centres Black and racialised communities.

Our strategic objectives are to…

Group of people gathered outdoors, with one man in the foreground wearing a knit cap and smiling. Others are seen engaged in conversation and playing drums. The setting is shaded by trees, suggesting a festival or gathering.

Develop alternative help systems

Woman presenting, pointing at a flowchart on a paper, wearing a patterned top with cats and pearl necklace, in an office setting with sticky notes and diagrams on the wall.

Monochrome photo of raised hands in front of a blurred person

Build capacity within communities

Share power, knowledge and resources

Current funded projects:

My Lewisham

“[Taking part] has really helped me feel better about myself.”
- Young Person, My Lewisham, 2026

The Harambee Partnership

We welcome interest in our programmes.

If you are interested in our work, or approaches, or to discuss an idea, please get in touch!

Past programmes

For information concerning previous programmes and projects please contact

hello@partisanuk.org.uk

Our Current Supporters

Our Approach to Change

**At Partisan, we believe an approach to change is 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 marginalised and racialised communities experience in current help systems.

To develop an understanding of who else
- is trying to shift their mindset and unlearn the current colonial system
- is moving towards alternatives, when it comes to how society connects, works and heals together.
We imagine these stakeholders may not be mental health professionals, and could be campaigners, justice worker, lawyers, African Centred Psychologists, change makers etc, 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.
If this sounds like you, join our community.
Partisan thinks about the world and our networks through:
- places
- people and
- communities of practice
  who are pushing for a future world, where help systems centre repair and healing for marginalised and racialised communities.
Our strategy over the next 3-5 years is to grow our network beyond mental health and the youth sector, asking current and new connections and supporters for help to do this.

Infographic titled 'Partisan Planet: Our Approach to Change' with a flowchart illustrating a vision for equitable help systems. Key components include relationships, redistribution, regenerative, and repair. Focus on marginalized communities and power sharing with a testing, learning, and adapting cycle. Geographic focus on London.

Infographic diagram depicting "The World As Is" at the center surrounded by terms such as capitalism, whiteness, and risk averse. Arrows labeled "Future World" point outward to circles labeled "Network." On the left, a circle labeled "p." connects to another labeled "Future World."

Download our Emergent Strategy

“Our approach 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.”

- Jay Perkins, Founder

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