Donelle Grant keeps herself very busy. As well as being a community development worker for an advocacy charity, holistic coach and mother, Donelle is also the founder of the Brave Project, a suicide prevention and wellbeing service for BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) boys and young men.

Donelle set up the Brave Project in October 2020 because she wanted to give back to the Newham community that she grew up in. She especially wanted to target BAME boys and young men.

She said: “After extensive research I discovered that due to disparities and inequalities BAME boys and young men found openly talking about their mental health/wellbeing difficult and are at higher risk of suicide.”

The Brave Project is very personal to Donelle because she is a mother to two young black boys. She understands the importance of normalising discussion about mental health and being open about dealing with your emotional wellbeing.

“It is very important for my sons to be able to express themselves freely, without any fear of judgement, and I was very disappointed when I discovered that there is a lack of culturally appropriate accessible services to enable this. The Brave Project creates and promotes culturally appropriate mental health awareness campaigns that influence change.”

Donelle’s mission for the Brave Project is to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues and empower BAME boys and young men to reach out and ask for help when they need it. She aims to ensure generations of BAME boys and young men are equipped with the necessary skills so that their voices are heard, and they don’t go unnoticed.

She said: “I wanted to change the narrative, reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues and empower BAME boys and young men to speak up and reach out for help when they need it.”

“Mental health is a difficult topic to tackle ,especially for young black men, as there are few role models or leaders we can look up to within our own community, but with the help of the Brave Project, young black men such as myself are guaranteed the help that they need”, said Asharn, 17.

Through their wellbeing workshops, the Brave Project community has been offering support to BAME boys and young men who have been struggling with their mental health during lockdown.

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