The seeds we planted will outlive us: Partisan’s closing blog
Partisan is closing, and while that is a genuinely sad and difficult thing to hold, endings are a part of the work.
Of course this is not the ending we imagined, not the timeline we would have chosen, but an ending we are trying to meet with the same values we tried to bring to everything else: care, and a belief that what we planted together is bigger than the organisation that helped it grow.
Partisan was born in 2020, when the murder of George Floyd, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and a global pandemic converged and forced the world to look at what was really there: who gets care, and who gets left behind.
In that moment, our founder asked a question: what might be possible if we stopped pouring our energy into adapting systems that were never built for us, and started designing alternatives from the ground up?
That question led to Partisan, born out of frustration at the harm being done in the name of help, and the imagination within communities who have always known how to care for each other, even when the system didn’t.
We are closing our organisation in a world where that question is more urgent than ever; where funding for community-led, anti-racist work is shrinking, where only 3.8% of Black people complete a course of talking therapies, and where small, yet rooted, values-led organisations like ours continue to be squeezed out of a landscape that was not designed to sustain us, where funding is for delivery but rarely the infrastructure that holds it.
This is not a coincidence.
It’s structural, and it makes the work of the last five years matter all the more.
We aren’t the first or only ones asking what kind of other world could be possible; we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors, activists, organisers, healers, and community builders who came before us and refused (long before we did) to accept that the systems as they stood were good enough. Partisan grew from that lineage, and we carry it with us as we close.
Five Years of Learning
“...if you guys wasn’t here, more times we’d be outside, standing around. This is a much better alternative.” - Young person, 2024
We can’t tell the story of where we ended up without telling the story of how we got there; a journey that was formative, joyful, stretching, and at times really hard.
In Year 1 we were green shoots in every sense; our founder was following a question and a commitment, offering spaces for communities and teams to process and heal. Those early relationships, built in the middle of a crisis in 2020, became the foundation for everything that followed. The relational way of working that we started with never left us; it was flat, connected, and attentive to power.
By Year 2 the need was bigger than the founding directors could hold, so we made the decision to grow the team; a decision that deepened what was possible and brought new questions about culture and values as the organisation got bigger.
“What has resonated most with me about Partisan’s work is its unapologetic commitment to centring Black communities as leaders, not subjects. For too long, we have seen our communities over-analysed, over-diagnosed and under-supported. Partisan shifts that dynamic by recognising lived experience as expertise and placing power back where it belongs with the people most impacted.
This work is not optional; it is essential. The structural inequalities facing Black communities, particularly in mental health, are not new…they are persistent, systemic and deeply rooted. We continue to see Black people more likely to be failed by services than supported by them. That is not a coincidence, it is a consequence of systems that were never designed with us in mind.
What Partisan demonstrates is that there is another way. Community-led, culturally grounded approaches are not “innovations” they are necessities. They build trust, create relevance and deliver impact in ways mainstream systems have consistently failed to do.
The continued need for sustained investment, real power-sharing and a commitment to dismantling Anti-Black racism is clear at every level. Without that, we are simply managing inequality, not transforming it.”
- Professor Patrick Vernon OBE, Pro Chancellor for Health University of Wolverhampton and Patron of ACCI and Nafsiyat
Year 3 brought a strategic shift: we had always viewed mental health through a community psychology lens — understanding that distress does not exist within individuals in isolation, but is shaped by the relationships, environments, and systems that surround them — and a Bronfenbrenner framework helped us see those layers clearly, from the intimate to the structural. But we explicitly moved beyond mental health as a narrow frame to address the wider systems shaping people's lives, and realised we needed a strategy to do this well - not to constrain our work but to give us something to say yes and no against, and keep focussed on what we were actually trying to do.
“Partisan's approach is unique as it is rooted in the disrupting of Westernised eurocentric pathologisation and an understanding that healing systemic wounds requires more than policy change. Its work has, for all intents and purposes, been rooted in the wisdom of our ancestors - Black ways of knowing, remembering, and caring as medicine for trauma. Partisan dives deep into that knowledge base and uses that consciousness as medicine for trauma, disconnection, and the wounds left by oppressive systems.
The current rise of the far right politics and the increased incidences of ethno-racial trauma requires interventions that are rooted in Black wisdom, and we know that by addressing the mental health of Black communities there will be broader societal benefits.
Organisations like Partisan don’t just fill gaps in services, they actively reach out and meet the communities where they are, providing a healing balm for generational wounds. Without organisations like Partisan providing services that are culturally rooted, there will continue to be an abject absence of genuine care.”
- Dr Yansie Rolston, BAYO and The Black Mental Health Manifesto
Year 4 was a year of expansion and consolidation at the same time. We co-created our Emergent Strategy, named our four pillars; Relationships, Repair, Redistribution, and Regeneration, and launched MyLewisham and the Harambee Partnership which centred the pillars in their design.
All the while we were holding a tension that sat at the heart of everything we did: dreaming and building for a future where help systems look fundamentally different, while making sure what was currently in place worked as well as it could for people who needed support right now… but the intention was never for current systems to remain in place.
The programmes, the structures, the services were always bridges towards something better, not destinations in themselves.
“Partisan lives and breathes its core values and four pillars; working with us, the Black community, to tackle institutional racism and oppression, and change the system and conditions. When I was going through a rough period of my life they helped me therapeutically, which helped me transition from a boy to a man, and recently I’ve been working with them on the Harambee Partnership. It’s genuine and honest work, done with love and care. It’s important that organisations like Partisan exist, it’s a detriment to community when they have to close.”
- Luis Garcia, Young Person and Harambee Community Member, 2026
Year 5 was our most internally focused year, with deep work around roles, responsibilities, accountability, and decision-making; leading to a restructure and a genuine attempt to live our principles inside the organisation, not just in our work alongside communities.
“What has resonated with us has been Partisan’s pillar-driven approach to the change work. This has enabled them to recognise what they want to move away from - practices that repeat the trauma marginalised communities have been subjected to - and toward practices codesigned with communities that enable nourishment, relationship and repair. This kind of work matters as it values historical community practices and enables these practices to be woven into the spaces created with young people and the wider community as part of the journey to develop sustainable community driven alternative help systems."
- PG Collective, Strategy Consultants
It was also, sadly, the year when we decided to bring the organisation to a close.
The story of how we got to closure is not so different from the story of the challenges we’ve been trying to address out in the world. It is complex, multi-layered, structural, and systemic; the accumulation of an underfunded sector, a challenging funding environment, infrastructure that couldn’t grow as fast as the mission, and governance that wasn’t robust enough to surface risks early enough. We name it because through transparency comes learning, and other organisations doing this work deserve to know what we know now.
What We Built Together
Octavia Butler wrote, 'all that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you'.
In the last five years, we directly partnered with 43 organisations across Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and beyond, reaching 1,000+ people. But the numbers only tell part of the story.
We worked in schools, community cafes, and youth spaces, offering highly flexible therapeutic support that met people where they were at. We entered co-design processes with young people that went on to influence services within national organisations.
“Working alongside Partisan in Lewisham has been invaluable in strengthening how we engage with and support our global majority communities. Their contribution to the multi‑borough Vanguard programme particularly the depth and integrity they brought to the scoping exercise has helped shape a more responsive and culturally‑grounded approach to youth safety. Their leadership during moments of serious violence ensured that voices too often overlooked were centred, heard, and acted upon. The impact of their work will continue to resonate long after their doors close.”
- Anthony Powell, Strategic Youth Offer Manager, Families, Quality and Commissioning (Children and Young People), Lewisham Council
We held teams in reflective practice and built capacity alongside community organisations. We contributed to policy level change within the NHS, government, national and local strategies, and the Black Mental Health Manifesto, alongside other Black-led organisations and mental health campaigners.
And more recently, we have developed participatory grant-making partnerships through MyLewisham (supporting community safety in Lewisham) and Harambee, a Black-led partnership reimagining systems of help and healing that centre Black communities across Lambeth and Southwark, which continues beyond us.
"The flame has been lit, it is ours to keep it alive… In many spaces, ideas are discussed in theory but Partisan moved beyond conversation into meaningful, active practice… They have paved the way for people like me, who lead community initiatives, to continue developing and expanding this work. We carry this work forward with deep respect and gratitude.”
- Candice James, Director, Loughborough Community Centre - Max Roach
In all of it, what we were really building was something harder to name: the conditions for healing which go beyond services, and create thriving ecosystems, where trust is deeply embedded, and people aren’t faced with just impersonal referral pathways. Above all, we were nurturing relationships that move at the speed of trust, survive rupture, are rooted in genuine care, which don't just end when we, as an organisation, do.
“Understanding that there is another way to serve the community and challenge the status quo has been revolutionary. Partisan’s approach has never been about surface-level change or short-term visibility. Instead, they have consistently created spaces where honesty is expected, power is examined, and organisations are supported to confront the realities of inequity with depth and integrity. Partisan has played a critical role in pushing organisations beyond statements and into action, particularly in spaces where race, power, and mental health intersect.”
- Danielle Bridge, Chief Executive Officer, Black Minds Matter UK
We were changed by this work, and we believe that change is still moving, through the people, through the relationships, through the seeds already growing somewhere we can't yet see.
You can read more testimonials and stories from some of the people we’ve worked with below.
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“I write this with a heavy heart as well as gratitude for the partnership we have built with Partisan. Partisan’s work has resonated with us because of their unwavering commitment to creating spaces where young Black people can feel seen, heard, and supported.
Through our collaboration on the Sound of Mind project, Partisan brought their unique expertise and trusted relationships to co‑design work with young people who had experienced racial trauma. Their ability to hold space, build trust, and create therapeutic environments outside traditional clinical settings enabled honest dialogue and meaningful insight—insight that will continue to shape how Mind designs services from the margins and with communities, not just for them. More recently, their contribution to the Black Mental Health Collective has been invaluable. They have helped strengthen a growing movement of Black‑led mental health organisations working together to challenge inequity and reimagine what better support looks like.
As I reflect on these two projects, I am drawn to the shifting of power to ensure that solutions are rooted in lived experience and cultural knowledge. Organisations like Partisan play a vital role in reaching people who are too often underserved or unsupported by traditional services. Mental health support is not a one-size-fits all - Partisan understood this- and we need more organisations like Partisan to meet the needs of those most at the margins because the need does not disappear! In fact, it grows!
We will continue to carry forward the learning we developed together—about co‑design, about culturally safe practice, and about what young people from racialised communities say they actually want from mental health support. We remain committed to working alongside Black‑led and community‑rooted organisations to ensure this essential work is not lost, but strengthened and sustained into the future.
Partisan, we thank you for everything you have contributed.—to Mind, to our collective understanding, and most of all, to the communities you've served with such integrity and care.”
Through our collaboration on the Sound of Mind project, Partisan brought their unique expertise and trusted relationships to co‑design work with young people who had experienced racial trauma. Their ability to hold space, build trust, and create therapeutic environments outside traditional clinical settings enabled honest dialogue and meaningful insight—insight that will continue to shape how Mind designs services from the margins and with communities, not just for them. More recently, their contribution to the Black Mental Health Collective has been invaluable. They have helped strengthen a growing movement of Black‑led mental health organisations working together to challenge inequity and reimagine what better support looks like.
As I reflect on these two projects, I am drawn to the shifting of power to ensure that solutions are rooted in lived experience and cultural knowledge. Organisations like Partisan play a vital role in reaching people who are too often underserved or unsupported by traditional services. Mental health support is not a one-size-fits all - Partisan understood this- and we need more organisations like Partisan to meet the needs of those most at the margins because the need does not disappear! In fact, it grows!
We will continue to carry forward the learning we developed together—about co‑design, about culturally safe practice, and about what young people from racialised communities say they actually want from mental health support. We remain committed to working alongside Black‑led and community‑rooted organisations to ensure this essential work is not lost, but strengthened and sustained into the future.
Partisan, we thank you for everything you have contributed.—to Mind, to our collective understanding, and most of all, to the communities you've served with such integrity and care.”on text goes here
Dr Sarah Hughes, Chief Executive Officer, Mind
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“Impact on Urban Health works to reduce health inequity at source. We know that mental health is one of the most inequitable areas of health. We believe race equity is integral to health equity and that people are experts in their own lives. Working with Partisan was therefore an obvious and important, strategic partnership for us.
Partisan has demonstrated in practice what a different model for mental health looks like which champions the expertise and voice of leaders and families in Lambeth and Southwark [through the Harambee Partnership].
They have moved the health sector forward significantly in the last five years and they can be proud of their achievements. But the work is not done and Impact on Urban Health will continue to urge the NHS and support communities to make further progress.”
Laurie Lee, Chief Executive, Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation
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“Where social conditions create an uphill battle for some communities, organisations like Partisan help level the playing field and give young people like us, who face more hurdles, the power to overcome them, offering them a place to land.”
— OJ, young person, MyLewisham, Creative Careers Collective attendee, 2026
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Watching the work that Jay Perkins and the team at Partisan, have done over the years has been transformative for me. Understanding that there is another way to serve the community and challenge the status quo has been revelationary. What has stood out most is their commitment to doing the work properly, not performatively. Their approach has never been about surface-level change or short-term visibility. Instead, they have consistently created spaces where honesty is expected, power is examined, and organisations are supported to confront the realities of inequity with depth and integrity. That kind of work is often uncomfortable, but it is exactly what makes it effective.
This work matters because systems do not change through intention alone. They change through sustained challenge, reflection, and accountability. Partisan has played a critical role in pushing organisations beyond statements and into action, particularly in spaces where race, power, and mental health intersect. Its impact cannot be overstated, especially for communities that continue to experience structural disadvantage in accessing safe and effective support.
As Partisan closes this chapter, the need for this work has not diminished, if anything, it has become more urgent. There remains a clear gap in organisations that are willing and able to hold others to account while supporting meaningful change. Continued investment in this space is essential, not just to maintain momentum, but to ensure that the progress made is not lost, and that the responsibility for change does not fall back onto the very communities most affected by inequity.
Danielle Bridge, Chief Executive Officer, Black Minds Matter UK
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The flame has been lit, it is ours to keep it alive - This is the work that needs to be done.
In many spaces, ideas are discussed in theory but Partisan moved beyond conversation into meaningful, active practice. Their commitment to developing alternative health systems has not only been necessary, it's trailblazing.
Working alongside Partisan over the past few years has been deeply inspiring. To learn, design, and collaborate with clinicians and community members, building frameworks for how this work can be done well, ethically, and with genuine care has been transformative. What stands out most is the grounding in restorative, shared values and the ability to centre community in every stage of the process. This is not just innovative work; it is foundational and has been long overdue.
This work matters because it challenges and expands the boundaries of traditional health systems, making space for approaches that are more inclusive, community-led, and responsive to real needs. It requires continued support and funding to ensure that thesealternative models are not only sustained, but allowed to grow, evolve, and reach more communities who stand to benefit. There remains a significant and ongoing need in this space. Many communities are still underserved, and there is a clear demand for approaches that prioritise trust, accessibility, and collective wellbeing.
The work Partisan has initiated provides a vital blueprint, one that others can learn from, adapt, and build upon. They have paved the way for people like me, who lead community initiatives, to continue developing and expanding this work. We carry this work forward with deep respect and gratitude and I am committed to continuing this journey in honour of the foundations Partisan has built, and in pursuit of what comes next.
Candice James, Director, Loughborough Community Centre - Max Roach
To Everyone Who Has Been Part of This
To our team, past and present, we don’t have words big enough for what you brought to this work. You showed up with your whole selves, lived the pillars as a daily practice, and held each other and the communities through some real challenges. This work has asked more of you than it should have at times, and your commitment and care has meant everything.
To the young people, families, community members, and community organisations who trusted us, joined our journey, and (especially during this closure period) have stepped up to carry projects and relationships forward, thank you. You are the ecosystem - the alternative help systems that scaffold and sustain communities. You showed what solidarity looks like in practice, and you taught us more than any framework ever could.
To our funders, strategists, learning partners, and every consultant, coach, and critical friend who helped us see ourselves more clearly, thank you. And to everyone who has been impacted during this closure period, managing your own shock, disappointment, anger, sadness (all common elements of grief), along with changes to your own situation, we see you, and we are genuinely sorry. Your patience, compassion and grace has helped us through these last few months.
We looked at the way things were, refused to accept they couldn't be different, and built something, imperfectly and with everything we had, in the direction of something better. We gave it a go, and that will always matter. The seeds you carry are yours now, keep planting!
Jay Perkins, Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Partisan was a Black-led Community Interest Company operating across Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth and beyond from 2020–2026.
Our learning, resources, and approach will be shared in the months ahead.