The Delicate Mind C.I.C

The Delicate Mind (TDM) is an award-winning community interest company which has a long-established track record of working with the Muslim community, across Birmingham since 2018. Since then, TDM has worked with over 105 organisations from Youth Groups, Faith Institutions, Public Health Bodies, The Third Sector, Community Groups, Universities and Refugee Organisations and has an outreach of over 5,000 people. TDM has been featured on multiple media platforms and has been shortlisted for the National Diversity Awards/ Birmingham Young Professional of The Year. TDM is currently undertaking an MSC in Computer Science at The University Of Birmingham to create digitised mental health support tools.

Throughout our work TDM provides research, free mental health services, training and advocacy through a number of avenues and will soon have our own radio show on a popular local community radio station Unity FM.

Please visit the website to learn more.

How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?

As an organisation dedicated to promoting mental health and well-being, we prioritise initiatives aimed at preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it. Some ways in which our organisation contributes to this important cause are as follows.

1. Education and Awareness Campaigns: We conduct educational campaigns to raise awareness about suicide prevention, mental health, and available resources. Through workshops, seminars, and online materials, we reduce stigma, increase understanding, and encourage help-seeking behaviour. For example we currently have a free resource available in a number of community languages on our website which directly supports positive mental health and acts a high impact, low level resource focused on supporting those who are in a mental health crisis.

2. Mental Health Services: We currently provide free peer to peer intervention services which counsel individuals on a number of issues related to mental ill health in partnership with Birmingham City Council, one of them being around suicide.

3. Training and Capacity Building: We offer training programmes for healthcare professionals, educators, and community members to enhance their skills in recognising warning signs, providing support, and facilitating interventions for individuals at risk of suicide, for example we have done so with Suicide and Co, to ensure their cultural competency when supporting the Muslim community.

4. Research and Advocacy: We have also supported research initiatives aimed at understanding the underlying causes of suicide and identifying effective prevention strategies. Additionally, we advocate for policies and practices that promote mental health awareness, access to care, and suicide prevention efforts at local, national, and international levels, having worked with The Samaritans, UCL, Light To Life and IPSO to create genuinely life saving information.

5. Advisory Boards: We currently sit on the Samaritans lived experience advisory board as well as Birmingham Net Zero Suicide Advisory Group as we have direct lived experience of bereavement by suicide and understand very well the difficult nuance of supporting others who have been impacted by suicide.

Fundamentally we want to ensure we work together with a range of people to save as many lives as possible.

What are your current priorities?

To grow TDM in to a well established national organisation which supports as many people as possible with their mental health.

What challenges are you currently facing?

Access to unrestricted funding, capacity and time.