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Mental Health • Raising Awareness • Breaking the Stigma • Empowering Communities

The Lantern Initiative is a Muslim-run grassroots Social Enterprise currently based across Peterborough and Leicester, run by a dedicated volunteer team based across both cities. Our objectives are to educate and raise awareness of mental health issues in the Muslim community, to help break down the associated stigma and to empower communities in seeking and accessing relevant support with their mental health and wellbeing. Make a direct donation to The Lantern Initiative below using Swipify:

There is a growing body of research to suggest that those exposed to racism and Islamophobia may be more likely to experience mental health problems such as psychosis and depression and are less likely to reach out for help. Muslim communities often face both racism and Islamophobia, compounding their barriers to engagement. Equally faith has been found to have many protective elements. We thereby aim to utilise this crucial aspect of identity, for individual and collective empowerment allowing communities to become self-sustaining in developing improved mental health. We seek to fulfil our aims by providing more platforms to openly discuss mental health, thereby making it less of a taboo subject. We team up regularly with counsellors and psychotherapists to facilitate events and workshops, focused on various mental health and wellbeing-related topics.

Our unique and dynamic service consists of tailored supportive and professional mental health events, seminars and workshops. We pride ourselves on providing a safe and comfortable space within which service users can be open. We ensure self-care through our attention to detail, tailoring the experience to be healing in itself and often ending with mindfulness activities. A critical feature to our events are the interactive nature in order for service users to gain maximum benefit. Our guest speakers are approachable experts in their fields from within minority communities, thereby allowing service users to connect more deeply. Over the last 8 years we have delivered more than 50 events and workshops across Peterborough, Milton Keynes, London and Leicester. We work with psychotherapists, psychologists and highly skilled mental health professionals in the field to deliver our work effectively.

Our events are planned within a faith sensitive framework, incorporating culturally-informed content; however all workshops and events are open and accessible to everyone, Muslim or otherwise