A NEW DIRECTION
1994 – 2004
Transferring my Youth Work skills to Mental Health work.
This decade gives an overview of my consultancy and development work in Tower Hamlets. With a focus on supporting African and Caribbean individuals who were diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
In 1995, the Tower Hamlets User Development Project recruited me to consult with African and Caribbean communities on their mental health needs. This consultation led to the creation of the Tower Hamlets African and Caribbean Mental Health Organisation (THACMHO).
The West African symbols of TABONO ( representing strength, confidence, and perseverance), and the SANKOFA bird (representing going forward while looking back) were adopted as THACMHO’s motto. Together they symbolise THACMHOs’ commitment to serving their members and community.
Another new beginning!
After a restructuring of the Newham Youth and Community Education Services in 1992/93, I was made redundant. It came as a shock but provided me with an opportunity to change careers and I took up counselling.
My previous work with Drugs Advisory and MIND Newham in the 80’s had opened my eyes to the challenges of poor mental health in the Black community and so I took up the challenge to do something about it.
After successfully completing a diploma course at CSCT in Counselling, I joined the MIND Tower Hamlets and the Hackney MIND counselling services.
I also began volunteering with the MIND Tower Hamlets African Caribbean Mental Health Project at the MIND Open House Centre Bow E3.
MENTAL HEALTH
The UK Mental Health Act of 2007 defines mental illness as:
“Any disorder or disability of the mind”
The World Health Organisation defines Mental Health as:
“A state of mental well-being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life, realise their abilities, learn well and contribute to their community”
Here are some examples of the discriminatory nature of psychiatric diagnosis and their relationship with the African diasporic communities both in the USA and the UK.
In the USA as early as 1851 a famous Louisiana physician Samuel A Cartwright published his essay:
“Report on the disease and physical peculiarities of the Negro race”
Claiming to have discovered the mental disease peculiar to the Negro race, which he believed justified their enslavement. ‘Drapetomania’ caused Africans to have an uncontrollable urge to run away from their “Masters” the treatment was whipping the devil out of them. As well as ‘Dysaesthesia Aethiopis’ which supposedly affected both the mind and body, the diagnosable signs included: Disobedience, answering disrespectfully and refusing to work. The cure was some kind of hard labor which apparently sent “vitalized” blood to the brain to give liberty to the mind!
In the UK the Commission for Racial Equality published an information pamphlet on mental health in September 1995 stating:
“Black people are more likely than white people to be compulsorily detained under the Mental Health Act, diagnosed as ‘schizophrenic’, detained in locked wards of psychiatric hospitals, or arrested by the police under section 136 of the Act. There are claims that this is the result of either: a genetically determined high illness rates, the reactions of Black people to white racism, or the failure of white practitioners to understand Black culture. Others have questioned current methods of diagnosis and assessment, suggesting racism may play a part in the relationship between the psychiatric system and Black people”.
There have been many reports with recommendations on issues surrounding Black mental health in the UK which is worthy of a special report. Sadly, most of the institutions who led campaigns on Black mental health like the Commission for Racial Equality, local Authority race departments, Community Health Councils, progressive Trade Unions, health charities, voluntary mental health organisations and User groups have disappeared mainly due to the lack of funding.
The 1990 Community Care Act
The 1990 Community Care Act significantly changed mental health services in England and Wales, emphasising user participation to empower those receiving community care.
The 1990 Community Care Act
The Act had 6 key tasks:
Involving service users
Care management
Strategic commissioning
Provider development
Shifting the balance of care
Involving housing agencies
Community care services determine the quality of people’s lives: whether they can live where they choose, participate in personal relationships, engage in activities which give meaning to life. Such services are necessary to give people access to basic human rights.
Unless service Users are fully involved in every stage – from planning through to service delivery – their human rights will not be protected, nor will their civil rights be promoted.
The community care Act also gives some background to my consultancy work in Tower Hamlets with African and Caribbean mental health service Users.
The New Direction
Mental health services in the UK have historically failed African and Caribbean people because they were not designed to accommodate other cultures.
For several years, Tower Hamlets Council encountered substantial difficulties in engaging with the African/Caribbean community on various issues. Based on my experience as a member of the Tower Hamlets African Caribbean Association (THACA), the Council ceased funding the organisation responsible for facilitating these consultations in 1986.
Following unsuccessful efforts to engage with the community regarding the 1990 Community Care Act, Mike Loosley, a worker at the Tower Hamlets User Development Project, recruited me to assess the mental health needs of the African and Caribbean communities living or working in Tower Hamlets.
My contractual meeting agreed the following:
- The purpose of the consultation is to provide an opportunity for African/Caribbean users of mental health services in Tower Hamlets to meet, explore and identify common issues and then make those findings available to purchasers and providers of mental health services in the borough.
- To achieve this purpose, the following goals were agreed as the work of the consultant:
- To facilitate a group of users in the planning of a Consultation Conference in the Autumn of 1996.
- Prepare a final report with members of the planning group to present the Conference findings to the purchasers and providers of services.
- To explore the process of the consultation for opportunities i.e. training on Cultural and racial awareness from an African/Caribbean user perspective.
- Tower Hamlets Community Health Council’s Mental Health Users Development Project agreed to arrange funding and provide resources so that the purpose and goals of the consultation could be met
The Beginning
My first task was to visit places in the borough and recruit a planning group made up of African and Caribbean people who were diagnosed with a mental disorder. Some never attended a conference before furthermore organising one.
Nevertheless, after 6 months, I was able to get the group
ready to hold a community consultation at the MIND Tower Hamlets Open House centre on the 20th November 1996.
I was able to invite some prominent community leaders and mental health workers to the conference.
Guest speaker, Brother Leader Mbandaka from the Alkebu-lan Revivalist Movement, poured libations to open the conference and also delivered an impactful speech on African Caribbean history and its connection to good mental health.
L-R Pauline Abbot-Butler, Malcolm Phillips, Bro Ldr Mbandaka, Bro Omowale, Harry Cumberbatch.
Pauline Abbot-Butler from Good Practices in Mental Health addressed the topic of Caribbean women and mental health, while Malcolm Philips, Director of Ipamo, discussed a community model for African Caribbean individuals with severe mental illness. I had the privilege of chairing this groundbreaking conference.
Taking forward the conference recommendations.
The planning group continued meeting at least once a month and completed the conference report in January 1997. It made its first presentation at a meeting hosted by the East London & City Health Authority (ELCHA) with the following mental health providers in attendance.
• The Tower Hamlets Mental Health User Development Project
• The St Clements Patients Council.
• East London & City Health Authority – Local voices project.
• Tower Hamlets Health Care N.H.S Trust.
• Tower Hamlets Social Services (Principal Mental Health officer M. Morgan)
• Better Futures (Borough wide mental health voluntary and statutory forum)
The first presentation was well received and it gave us the confidence to carry on.
In June 1997 the conference recommendations relating to St Clements hospital were presented at a meeting with Mavis Colyer, the Adult Mental Health Manager at Tower Hamlets Health Care NHS Trust. She agreed to undertake the following actions as outlined in the below memorandum.
I was pleasantly surprised with the Trust response as it was unusual for NHS hospitals and other institutions to serve West Indian meals or appreciate other communities cultural needs. To me the nine points in the memorandum were a positive response to the conference recommendations.
Our Rastafarian members were also pleased that when hospitalised their way of life would be recognised.
Keeping up the momentum
The planning Group’ first public event was held during Black History Month of 1997, which at the time was not recognised by the Tower Hamlets Council.
I managed to get Oona King MP for Bethnal Green Tower Hamlets, (now Baroness of Bow) to be our keynote speaker. Ms King spoke of her life as an MP, some of the challenges facing the Black family and highlighted some of the challenges facing Black Women.
Malcolm Philips gave an overview of the mental health challenges facing African people in the UK and the importance of Ipamo centres in the community.(see conference report)
Marcia McLeod spoke on the mental health needs of the local community and her role at Mind Tower Hamlets AC development worker.
The meeting was also used as a celebration for Black History Month. Sister Mayokun a community activist spoke on the importance of Black History Month, reminding the attendees that the Month is about reconnecting with our Culture and Heritage and aimed to create self-pride. She also spoke on the campaign to get Black History Month funded by the Council, which our group was also a part of.
MP Oona King delivering her speech.
The meeting was also used as a celebration for Black History Month. Sister Mayokun a community activist spoke on the importance of Black History Month, reminding the attendees that the Month is about reconnecting with our Culture and Heritage and aimed to create self-pride. She also spoke on the campaign to get Black History Month funded by the Council, which our group was also a part of.
There was a call out for volunteers with skills in the areas of the legal profession, medical profession, accountancy, fundraising, spiritual, business planning, management, architecture and community development to join the resource centre steering group.
The long-term conference recommendation for an African and Caribbean Mental Health Resource Centre in Tower Hamlets was launched by the MP Oona King and she was the first signatory on the petition.
Becoming a Mental Health Act Manager
Photo HCHeritage 2025
My community service took another turn when I added another string to my bow and became a Mental Health Act manager for the Newham Health Care NHS Trust in 1997/8. Based at the old Eastham Memorial Hospital. (see photo)
The appointed post had the authority to detain patients under the mental health act 1983 and was supported by a team of full-time mental health administrators. The role carried a range of responsibilities including ensuring that patients care and treatment complied with the act. As time went by the amalgamation of the Newham Trust along with Hackney, Tower Hamlets and the City of London formed the East London and City Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.
I carried out my duties for various trusts alongside my work with THACMHO until I stepped down in 2022. I believe that I made a positive contribution over the years through my African Caribbean grassroot experiences.
Officially THACMHO
Officially THACMHO
Celebrating the 1st Black History Month in Tower Hamlets.
Kwanzaa Celebrations
The Group celebrated the first of its two Kwanzaa held in partnership with the MIND African Caribbean project and the Asumjwe women’s group at the MIND Open House.
The New Millenium
Leading up to the year 2000 was a time of much anxiety relating to what the 21st century was going to bring. For the group, it was about preparing to join the voluntary sector and becoming a constitutional grassroots mental health organisation.
In February 2000 the User Group became an Independent voluntary organisation THACMHO with an official launch.
The event provided an opportunity to express gratitude to the mental health workers who supported the group. Chair Gloria Marcano mentioned in her welcome speech that, given our objectives, this is an opportune time to establish a voluntary organisation and contribute positively to our community using a holistic approach.
THACMHO
The planning group
THACMHO and I believed that the Holistic Approach is a sensitive way to plan and deliver mental health services. We agree with the 1978 declaration definition of health by the World Health Organisation that
The group made a successful application to the MIND Millenium Awards for a grant to launch the organisation and produce an educational/promotional leaflet by our members titled “Out of the Picture”.
The leaflet focused on reducing the stigma surrounding Mental Health and Mental Health Awareness. It was launched at a community event in May with talks from Black workers speaking about their work. It was also an opportunity to hear from the consultants carrying out an assessment on the mental health needs of young people in East London.
Here is the complete leaflet.
Some of our members received a letter from the Millennium Commissioner, the Earl of Dalkeith, acknowledging our achievement in winning a MIND Millennium Award and becoming a member of the Millennium Award Fellowship.
The certificates were co-signed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Chris Smith, and we were invited to Café Royal in the presence of HRH Princess Alexandra.
Our final event for the year, a celebration of creativity on the Sixth day of Kwanzaa, Kuumba.
A photo of the family in our finest West African attire getting ready for the event.
In 2001 I met Fabian Tompsett, a local community historian who at the time was researching his 18th century African roots. I invited him to a THACMHO meeting to discuss his observations on African history in the Borough… mainly that in the recently published Tower Hamlets Council booklet ‘The Hamlets and The Tower: One thousand years of Tower Hamlets history.’ The earliest mention of an African presence was in 1955, with the settlement of Somali sailors!
This differed from other historical sources like Unchained voices which cites an African presence/settlement in the borough well into the 18th century.
I contacted the Tower Hamlets archives for a meeting to discuss the oversight. Fabian and I attended the meeting and the council agreed that if we did the research on the African presence in the borough, they would contribute to the printing cost!
Readers, this is how the ’Power Writers’ Walk, exhibition and publication came about.
We turned our research into a walking tour, in and around the Whitechapel area and later published their stories in the book Power Writers.
A guided tour in Liverpool by the late Dorothy Kuya overlooking the Mersey.
‘Out of Hours’ funding was a small Tower Hamlets social services grant to support local community organisations.
We received funds from the Councils’ grant scheme to help the group build their confidence.
Individual ideas were acted on and we made visits to African and Caribbean restaurants, museums, and even a Reggae concert to see Burning Spear. Trips were also made to Liverpool and partnerships developed with the Granby Advocacy project. They later came to Tower Hamlets and delivered 2 training events for THACMHO.
Here are a few tracks from the Burning Spear concert which was organised by one of our members the late Barrington Johnson. RIP Barry and enjoy.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CZyTqj-vRrM&si=hsSOUjP8IjhG9vhC
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=T9VZtD12AzQ&si=vEPre8HMweNVAtab
We launched the Power Writers Walking tours in October 2001!
We had a busy Black History Month preparing for 3 events in 2001. A talk and slide presentation by Dorothy Kuya titled “How the Atlantic Slave Trade made Britian Great” focusing on the Liverpool experience. I also served on The Tower Hamlets Black History Month committee and contributed to the design and programme.
Progress was made on the community resource centre for the African and Caribbean communities in Tower Hamlets in March 2001 when MELLOW accepted an expression of interest application to manage the process.
THACMHO also partnered the Footprints organisation in their 2001 London wide consultancy to find out the needs of African and Caribbean Users of mental health services.
THACMHO also partnered the Footprints organisation in their 2001 London wide consultancy to find out the needs of African and Caribbean Users of mental health services.
Publicity for THACMHO 2nd Advocacy training event.
This was run by The Granby Mental Health Group, our friends from Liverpool. It really consolidated our links with Liverpool and raised awareness on advocacy.
In June 2002 I organised a 6 week singing course for the group.
Anyone who ever heard me sing would be very surprised that I attended a singing course, they might even wonder what my voice was like before the course. I am sure some of the group still have a laugh when they remember my contribution to the CD which we made. I believe I have improved but unfortunately the CD of 3 little birds which we did is missing so you have to listen to the original by Bob Marley.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MUNNRAdizz0
THACMHO and Black Star Promotions presented a Black History Month 2003 Seminar
Black Empowerment For Community Regeneration and Neighbourhood Renewal
Another groundbreaking grassroot event for the Black community in Tower Hamlets on regeneration and neighbourhood renewal.
Contributions were made from leading activists Femi Martin, Esther Stanford, Leo Muhamed and Kofi Mawull Klu and a special appearance by the MP for Bethnal Green Oona King.
Copies of articles from Diverse Minds magazine and The Mellow Campaign newsletter highlighting THACMHO Health through History project.
In the summer THACMHO received a Footprints award for their contribution to mental health work in their community.
POWER WRITERS book launch.
I close this decade with a message from the THACMHO Chair at the time, Sidney Millin. Taken from the Power Writers Book Launch, Walking tour and Exhibition. I also remember our beloved and talented member the late Ruth Riviere who designed the powerful ‘Power Writers image – rising from the Slave ships to Power.
A message from the Chair
It is with great pleasure that Tower Hamlets African And Caribbean Mental Health Organisation have produced this publication. This helps to address some of the imbalances left by the failure to properly acknowledge the African presence in East London, however our ‘Power Writers’ also have a worldwide significance.
This publication is also part of a ‘Health Through History’ project which enables African and Caribbean people with mental health support needs to be pivotal in this project. This initiative enhances their own self-esteem and feeling of wellbeing through their work to improve communities’ understanding of the contribution that African people have made to society. We hope you enjoy reading ‘Power Writers’ and that it encourages and inspires you towards further studies.
Sidney Millin
Chairperson, THACMHO
My Very Important Events – VIE’s
Enjoying the gift of a grandson Akinola. Oswald Cumberbatch in 2022.
Continuing the work with THACMHO, -discovering press reports on racism and Imperialism in the 18 and 19th century East London – working with the London Museum in docklands
Being honored for my community work and forming a Foundation for my friend and comrade the late Tony Cheeseman.