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Well-Founded

Well-Founded

By: We Are Here Scotland
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In Scotland's creative scene, there's a crucial gap: spaces owned by and designed for Black and Global Majority creatives.


Join host Ica Headlam as he explores inspiring Black and Global Majority-led venues and cultural centres from the UK to international destinations. Each episode uncovers the stories behind these spaces—the vision, the struggle, and the profound impact on wellbeing and artistic expression.


We'll meet fearless founders breaking barriers, discover innovative funding models, and explore how creative spaces become lifelines for community and mental health. AND, what it could look like for Scotland.


Because creative spaces aren't just about art—they're about belonging, wellbeing, and creating foundations where communities can truly thrive.


New episodes weekly. A We Are Here Scotland production.


Credits

Producer & Technical Producer: Halina Rifai

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We Are Here Scotland
Art Hygiene & Healthy Living Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Black Psychotherapy
    Nov 20 2025

    Host Ica Headlam speaks with Kim Loliya, founder and director of Black Psychotherapy in London, about culturally attuned mental health support for Black and Global Majority communities. Kim discusses how they've grown from a solo practice to a team of 31 practitioners, the problems with Eurocentric therapy models, and why mainstream NHS provision often fails racialised communities. The conversation explores generational trauma, the fears many hold about accessing mental health services (including higher rates of sectioning and restraint), and the power of community healing through care circles. Kim also shares their vision for abolishing Western therapy models in favour of more indigenous approaches to healing, the importance of anti-oppressive practice embedded throughout training curricula, and Black Psychotherapy's work from their shipping container therapy space in the heart of Brixton. This episode examines what real healing looks like when it's designed for us, by us.


    Find out more: Black Psychotherapy - www.blackpsychotherapy.com

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    32 mins
  • Pass the Mic
    Jul 31 2025

    Host Ica Headlam speaks with Talat Yaqoob, founder of Pass the Mic, about the gap between Scotland's progressive rhetoric and actual investment in change for communities of colour. They discuss creating your own spaces versus engaging with existing systems, the extractive nature of unpaid labour in media and activism, and how austerity has decimated the community centres and youth clubs that once anchored Black and Brown communities. Talat shares how Pass the Mic has grown from a desktop spreadsheet to a database of over 300 women of colour experts, and why sustained prioritisation matters more than reactive responses to trending moments.

    Visit Pass the Mic - https://passthemicscotland.org

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    37 mins
  • Creative Balance
    Jun 18 2025

    In this episode, host Ica speaks with Matthew Hickman (musician/artist-activist) and Loa Pour Mirza (therapist/facilitator) about the Creative Balance project, which researches wellbeing among Black and racialised creatives and cultural professionals in Scotland. They discuss how five years after 2020's promises of change, many artists still face systemic barriers, lack of representation in leadership, and the exhausting burden of being the only BPOC person in white creative spaces.


    The conversation explores why community-led research matters, the project's choice of language like "wellbeing" over "mental health," and how Scotland's creative sector compares to other places.


    Find out more about Creative Balance at www.creativebalance.scot


    Credits: Producer and Technical Producer - Halina Rifai

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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    41 mins
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