Hackney Thinking Spaces

Introduction:
The London Borough of Hackney is commissioning a new pilot project, the ‘Hackney Thinking Spaces’. This project will be led by the Children, Young People, Maternity and Families Integrated Commissioning Workstream, sitting under London Borough of Hackney’s Children and Education Directorate and supported by LBH Public Health directorate in a joint offer over a period of 18 months.

Hackney is currently consulting and engaging on a draft anti-racism action plan. The action plan recognises that we need to make sure everyone in the system is starting from the same understanding of what racism is and what anti-racism is. This way, we can make sure that we are progressing the right actions. We need to work closely with residents and partners to understand their experience of racism and develop the right solutions. Thinking Spaces will make a key contribution, by providing a therapeutically framed way of collaborating with residents on solutions, which ultimately drive systems change.

Project Overview:
-Hackney Thinking Spaces (HTS) will take a community approach to mental health and wellbeing. The model will be based on the ‘Haringey Thinking Spaces’ project delivered during 2015-2017 post 2011 riots. This approach has been widely reported to be successful - an LSE evaluation documents usefulness of approach (Sampson, 2018).
-The Intervention will comprise clinically facilitated, therapeutic group reflective spaces led by an experienced psychotherapist typically delivered as part of an ongoing programme of sessions - informed by psychoanalytical and systemic perspectives
-The project is expected to deliver a community therapy approach that ‘involves working through historically entrenched feelings of hopelessness, depression and
-Powerlessness’ that will enable participants to ‘forge independence and becomes more solution oriented’ (Lowe, 2014)
-The proposed project will be delivered in community and school settings in Hackney from November 2023. The project will initially be funded to run over an 18 month period. A phased approach, beginning with the community phase, will be implemented.
-It is essential that work must be co-produced with the community and voluntary sector organisations in order that the therapeutic objectives can be met.
-It is essential that this work informs and drives overarching systems change - with participants directly informing the key change they want to see. System Leaders must be committed to ensuring that tangible system change outcomes are achieved in order for the project to be deemed a success.

Desired Project Outputs:
1. Increased community support in response to issues raised through recent Safeguarding Practice Reviews into the experience of Child Q and the impact of ongoing systemic, Racial Trauma.
2. Development of community-based solutions to the issues discussed. This will be done in collaboration with key statutory services, e.g. the police, Hackney council and health services. This will inform and drive overarching systems change - with participants directly informing the key changes they want to see.
3. Participants further develop supportive peer relationships within their local community
4. Participants are empowered to further develop the skills and capacity to advocate for themselves

Funding Amount available over 18 months.
£80,000

This funding will cover the following areas:
-Finalisation of the Thinking Spaces clinical delivery model in co-production with key community stakeholders
-Clinical facilitation of the Thinking Spaces
-Clinical oversight of the Thinking Spaces
-Attendance of the Thinking Spaces Working Group
-Carrying out monitoring and evaluation work.