The Synergi Project so far…
by Debbie Solomon
Earlier in the year, the team created a Theory of Change, and we discussed and developed a set of values statement which represent our core beliefs. These guide our choices and the way we work. We recognise that the values we have developed are a starting point and are not fixed but fluid. We have framed these values to include disability justice, non-reformist reforms, racial justice as well as transformative and abolitionist justice. While we recognise theory is useful, what is most important is how theoretical understandings translate into practice. Therefore, we want to ensure that the values statements developed speak to the communities we work with.
The process was extremely useful for us as a team to unpack how language is used and understood internally within Synergi but also externally. More importantly we recognise that since April 22 when they project began, there had been significant changes in personnel within Synergi and NSUN.
Whilst Synergi has a very distinct approach to radical mental health which is supported by NSUN, Synergi is not a separate legal entity. In trying to find the best fit for Synergi, we have been presented as a project hosted by NSUN when we are in fact a programme within NSUN. This led to a divergence in understanding between what a ‘hosted project’ is and the realities of the Synergi staff team being NSUN employees and all the legalities this entails. The changes in key personnel further compounds this understanding and as result, the ‘project’ has not progressed as it had been hoped. Due to the length of time that has passed, my focus over the last year has been to stabilise the team, bring in more resources, create delivery expertise within the team and to have an agreed approach. As such I decided to not reframed Synergi as a programme held by NSUN. However, this will be address if further funding is secured.
It was also observed that a tension exists between activism in general and racial justice in particular and how this translates to delivery when you’re confined within an employment framework and more so, bound by the Charities Commission. This tension is why much movement building activist opt to not be regulated by the Charity Commission to allow them to be flexible in the ways in which the choose to do this work. However, we are aware that current funding models do not support this level of independence whilst recognising the Charity Commission is not fit for purpose. These tensions are of course valid. The work is messy and certainly not straight forward especially when there is not a demarcation between ‘work’ and ‘lived experience’ my take is the ability to hold several tensions whilst understanding the urgency of this work. It is not easy, but it is a requirement to delivering the work instead of the tendency to turn the ‘activism inwards’.
The work is messy and certainly not straight forward especially when there is not a demarcation between ‘work’ and ‘lived experience’
Another observation is how support shows up for those with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress and trauma in a work setting. We are not a monolith, and our lived experiences present in different ways and a question arise as to how much an organisation can realistically is expected to hold versus individual and collective accountability. At Synergi and also NSUN, we strive to work collectively rather than with individualism, to offer support in a way that does not come at a cost to someone else’s mental-ill health. This is extremely challenging when we all work remotely and as much as we want to do this work it is not for everyone. This is not a criticism but an observation.
My main take away is that this work is extremely hard both in terms of the change we want to see but also the shifting landscape. Despite the rocky start of Synergi, a lot of groundwork had been done before I joined and that needs to be acknowledged. The staff team have worked hard navigating the shifting changes which has taken a toll on their lived experiences and mental well-being. I choose to hold much of the uncertainty in acknowledgement of this but is has come at a cost to my own mental-ill health and I do wonder if this was the best approach….
Despite the rocky start of Synergi, a lot of groundwork had been done before I joined and that needs to be acknowledged.
As we move into the final year of this current round of funding, I excited by what the team will be delivering. The current grant programme resourcing racial justice and mental health, which is part of our Democratising Policy workstream, has now come to a close. We unapologetically radically invited groups led by communities who are racialised as Black to apply and achieved awarding over 50% of the funding for these groups. Social media presences has increased with the creation of an Instagram, Facebook and You tube page and an intention to engage with our community. We are looking to have more offerings and build on previous events such as the free workshop: Legal Structuring for User-Led Groups with Sistren Legal Collective; the panel Event – Hostile by Design: How the UK Immigration System Creates Distress; with Fizza from Migrant Right Network and Bishop Dr. Desmond Jaddoo. From precarity to liberatory: creating a new model of resourcing grassroots groups NSUN Network Meeting July 2024 with Evie Muir founder of Peaks of Colour. The Radical Therapist Network who convened a session by Sage M Stephanou on: An Introduction to Developing Abolitionist Care in our Community. More recently our Synergi in Solidarity: Our ‘Anti-World Mental Health Day’ with Arya Thampuran, co-lead of the Black Health and the Humanities Network at Durham University, and Colin King psychiatric survivor and lead of the Whiteness and Race Equality Network at Oxford University.
All of this work will come together with two in person event next year to celebrate and consolidate our work streams but also to highlight the work that has come before us and that has built the foundations of the current and future work.
We hope you will join is on the journey.
In solidarity,
