Danielle Bridge, CEO of Black Minds Matter UK asks why the charity sector has turned away from equity when the need is greater than ever.

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In 2020, racial justice work seemed impossible to ignore. Statements were made, campaigns were launched, and funding pots appeared seemingly overnight. But in 2025, that spotlight has dimmed. Equity departments have been closed. Funding has been pulled. Interest has waned. And yet, for Black communities across the UK, the need hasn’t gone anywhere.

At Black Minds Matter UK (BMMUK), we know this because we live it. Since 2020, we’ve grown from a fundraising campaign to an established charity, delivering more than 9,000 therapy sessions to Black clients. In 2024 alone, we delivered 4,138 sessions which was more than double the year before. Demand keeps growing. But support from the wider system? Not always.

Much of the work that bloomed during that 2020–21 “moment” has withered under political pressure and public fatigue. Global events haven’t helped. Trump’s resurgence in the US. Cultural backlash in the UK. A growing narrative that equity work is divisive or no longer needed. The reality, though, is stark: Black adults in the UK remain the least likely to receive mental health treatment, just 6%, compared to 13% of White British adults (Mind, 2022).

When therapy is accessed, it often lacks cultural nuance. For many of our clients, therapy through BMMUK is their first experience with mental health support. Some actively avoided NHS mental health services for fear of racial stereotyping or poor outcomes. One client told us: “I would never have gone to a different therapist for fear of racial discrimination.” Another said simply: “This is the first time I actually feel safe to speak.”

Safety matters. So does trust. That’s why we exist.

Our model is deliberately specific: we match Black clients with Black therapists, all qualified, accredited, and culturally competent. Clients receive up to 12 weeks of therapy online, free of charge. And the impact is undeniable. In 2024, 94% of clients said they felt better after therapy, 87% felt understood, and 85% gained practical coping tools they didn’t have before.

None of this is radical. It’s just effective, appropriate care. But in a sector increasingly preoccupied with scale and standardisation, culturally specific approaches like ours can feel overlooked. There’s a temptation to think equity work is complete because some policies have changed, or a few high-profile moments have passed. But impact isn’t a headline. It’s in the quieter, often invisible, transformations that happen when a person is seen and supported as their full self.

Behind the data, there are stories of lives shifting. People arrive at therapy in crisis and leave with new language, confidence, and clarity. Individuals who had been isolated in their pain finding community, and, often, for the first time, relief. That is not something you measure easily. But it’s important.

The challenge we face isn’t just meeting demand, it’s also about staying present in a climate that’s already looking the other way. Equity work has always had to weather the cycles of attention. What remains is the day-in, day-out commitment to doing the work, whether it’s fashionable or not.

We’re still here because our community needs us to be. And that, in itself, should give all of us pause.

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