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This month, we’re doing something brave.
We’re opening up our mental health innovation work to scrutiny, launching a heritage project that connects the past to the present, and sharing what we learned when we tried to find our own community — and the platforms said no.
Can Good Mental Health ‘Go Viral’?
BMHWA Brown Bag Lunch • Wednesday 25 March • 12:00–13:00 • Online • Free
How do you design mental health intervention that transforms individuals and communities? We’re sharing BLKOUT’s Critical Frequency project — a proposal that draws on machine learning, network science, and behavioural economics to design intervention for and with Black queer men.
This isn’t a polished presentation. It’s a work in progress, shared because solidarity is built through challenge, not around it.
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Presenting:
Dr Rob Berkeley MBE — BLKOUT UK
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In Conversation:
Dr Ariel Breaux Torres
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Ivor’s Compass — Writers Wanted
Heritage • Writing Workshop • Croydon • April 2026
We’re looking for 12 writers to join a full-day workshop exploring the life of Ivor Cummings OBE — the gay father of the Windrush generation, Croydon native, and a man whose story was invisible for thirty years.
Too queer for Windrush narratives. Too Black for LGBTQ+ histories. Too complex for simple categories. His story is a compass for navigating similar waters today.
Each writer will create one short meditation inspired by an episode from Ivor’s life. These become part of a digital wellness journal — heritage you can use, not just observe. A commissioned poet will write a 3-minute spoken word piece, animated as a short film in the styles of Black British queer artists.
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What we’re offering:
| • £125 commission fee per writer |
| • Full-day facilitated workshop |
| • Research materials and support provided |
| • Your work published in the Ivor’s Compass digital journal |
| • No prior writing experience required — lived experience is the qualification |
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Funded by the Samuel Coleridge-Taylor 150 Small Heritage Grant from Croydon Culture Service. Ivor was a distant cousin of Coleridge-Taylor through Sierra Leonean kinship networks — the connection that brings this story home.
We Tried to Find Our Community. The Platforms Said No.
What happened when we tried to map our own network — and what it means for every community organisation building on rented digital ground.
X wanted £200/month. Instagram gave us 43 names. YouTube won’t tell you who subscribes. The richest map of our community came from the one place no platform controls: our own infrastructure.
Upcoming Events
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25 Mar — Can Good Mental Health ‘Go Viral’? Brown Bag Lunch (Online, Free)
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Apr TBC — Ivor’s Compass Writing Workshop (Croydon)
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Apr TBC — Ivor’s Compass Launch Event
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See all community events at events.blkoutuk.cloud →
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