Synergi-Leeds is an award-winning innovative and ambitious citywide approach to tackling ethnic inequalities in mental health.

The Partnership’s growing network of statutory and voluntary sector organisations is instrumental in supporting Priority 2 of the Leeds All-Age Mental Health Strategy, ‘reducing the over representation of people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities admitted in crisis’. The network adopts a whole system, life course approach and uses ‘Creative Spaces events’ to centre the voices of people with lived experience.

Language is important, so throughout this platform we will use the term BME – Black Minority Ethnic – to inclusively describe people who are not ‘White British’ and who have a shared history of racism and discrimination.

However, people will have a preference for different terminology such as ‘BAME’, ‘culturally and ethnically diverse groups’ or ‘racialised groups’ and we respect that. When terms other than BME are used in this document, this will reflect the language of the source.

In 2017, the Leeds Mental Health Partnership Board, in response to the disproportionate detention rates within the city, decided to address this stark inequality. A cross–sectoral steering group was formed which attempted to build on the identified priorities, but the group struggled to develop a coherent approach, decide on key actions or agree a shared, common language to discuss issues of risk, racism and discrimination.  It was at this point the contact was made with the National Synergi Collaborative Centre.

Collaboration

A senior stakeholder/sponsor board was established in order to shape and champion the development of the work and endorse the relationship with the Synergi Collaborative Centre. This was made up of senior leaders from the Leeds Health and Social care system and the lead Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing.

The problem

Early conversations with the national Synergi team were profoundly formative and helped us to frame ‘the problem’ in a different way. Namely, that there have been failures to affect real change in the past because: service user voices are marginalised; difficult views or opinions are ignored, and people in positions of power – particularly those who are White – fear addressing the issue and fear ‘getting it wrong’.

Life course approach

In response, the Synergi-Leeds Partnership was established. This growing network of statutory and voluntary sector organisations adopts a whole system, life course approach which embraces the complexity of people’s lives. The Partnership acts as a ‘community of practice’, with a culture shift to a more progressive dialogue about racial equity and justice. ‘How’ these conversations take place is just as important as ‘what’ people do to bring about change and a psychologically informed approach enables challenging and different conversations to take place.

The Synergi-Leeds Partnership winning the HSJ Mental Health Innovation of the Year 2023 Award

Over the last 4 years, partners in Leeds have worked together to re-build trust with our BME communities and people with lived experience of mental ill health, with a focus on those from a Black African, Black Caribbean, and South Asian heritage. However, we have also made links with the Gypsy, Traveller and Irish community. 

The Synergi-Leeds partnership provides a forum in which to inspire and engage system and community leaders to address all forms of racism, further develop work within acute mental health settings and develop a community grants programme.

Impact

There are early indications that this work is having an impact on reducing the numbers of people from both Asian and Black ethnic groups being detained. The work is challenging, but the city is proud of the relationships forged across culturally diverse groups and organisations and is grateful for the learning that continues to be shared.

Our future priorities will be informed by the narratives captured as part of Remembering What’s Forgotten, ensuring we build upon the last 50 years of community history to centre mental health and racial justice in Leeds.

It is a network of statutory and voluntary sector organisations committed to reducing ethnic inequalities in mental health, with a focus on reducing mental health act detentions. The membership reflects the approach of developing action across the whole system and life course. The membership of the Network now includes representation from the education sector and the ambition is the have representation from a variety of sectors including housing, leisure, employment, and criminal justice – all sectors that impact upon mental health and wellbeing.

The Synergi Leeds Network aims to energise and enable people to make changes within their own services and systems and as such, has grown into a community of practice.

A small core team supports the network functioning and capacity building across the system.

The core team focuses on:

1. developing the network.
2. co-designing Creative Spaces events with experts by experience
3. supporting the development of the Synergi grants programme/ and influencing outwards to inform wider programmes in the city including the Community Mental Health Transformation programme.

The all-age Synergi – Leeds grants programme has been designed to support grass roots projects/services that address the wider determinants of serious mental illness (including racism and discrimination); and supports Synergi Leeds ambition to tackle ethnic inequalities in mental health. The programme is funded recurrently by the Leeds Integrated Care Board (ICB) and delivered via Leeds Community Foundation (LCF).

Supporting grass roots organisations in this way reinforces the principle of choice in accessing services for minoritised groups and facilitates ‘proof of concept’ for those services which could and do meaningfully contribute to the mental health service landscape- enabling grass roots projects to thrive and not solely survive.

Remembering What’s Forgotten is an exhibition championing community and lived experience narratives to tackle the overrepresentation of black and South Asian men detained under the Mental Health Act in Leeds.

Co-founded by Synergi-Leeds and Words of Colour, the programme draws on 50 years of unsung community initiatives, allyship and knowledge to reimagine a more inclusive and equitable mental health system, guided by racial justice.

The Skills Library is created as a community resource where network members can offer their skills and mentorship to support grant holders who require further support to upskill in particular areas such as Monitoring impact and evaluation or building capacity across the organisation.

Service user and carer involvement is at the centre of everything we do. All of our Creative Spaces events have been co-curated, and we are currently developing a model / framework for involvement which is creative, flexible and sustainable.