Agenda for Day 1 – Saturday 27th June
Welcome to day 1 of the Our Minds Our Future online summit 2020. Below you will find a run down of the day and any key resources related to each session. You will have received an email with a link to join the sessions you’ve signed up for, but if you seem to be missing any or would like to join another one, email morr@youthaccess.org.uk to request to sign up.
There’ll be staff on hand all day in the Rights Advocate Facebook group – request to join now so you can hop in any time throughout the weekend to get help or spark up a conversation.
Remember, your safety and wellbeing is our absolute priority. Please help us to keep you safe and well by:
- Taking breaks away from the screen – there are a LOT of sessions over the weekend and you’re under no pressure to attend them all – give yourself breaks and let staff know if you’ve changed your mind about attending something you’d signed up to.
- Staying hydrated and well fed – we don’t mind you snacking during sessions – just mute!
- Letting staff know if anything is worrying you – whether that’s your own wellbeing, the wellbeing or safety of another participant or if somebody or something is making you feel uncomfortable. You can use the private chat function to message Youth Access staff, text or WhatsApp Zoe Baum on 07912 270037 or email zoe@youthaccess.org.uk
11.00am – 12pm
Our Minds Our Future online summit launch
Open to: Everyone
The Our Minds Our Future Steering Group will kick start our online weekender in style by hosting an introductory session.
You will be introduced to the Steering Group and Youth Access Staff Team and find out important information about the weekend ahead. Together, we will create an online working agreement to make sure that we all feel safe, supported and included over the weekend.
The Steering Group will also be leading an ice breaker activity to get us already for a fun-filled two days of online activism!
Here’s a video explaining the human right to mental health, and what the Our Minds Our Future campaign is all about:
12.15 – 1.45 pm
Rights Advocate online training hub prototype launch
Open to: Anyone who has not been working on the development of the online training hub
This year the Our Minds Our Future Steering Group and some of our dedicated Rights Advocates have been designing and developing an online training hub for Rights Advocates.
The online training hub is a training platform with a selection of ‘modules’ which can be accessed by Rights Advocates as and when they need them. The modules include information on how to build a team and develop and deliver a local campaign strategy. The first prototype of the online hub is ready to be shared and we want to know what you think!
Note to participants: Please can you come ready to the session with this loaded on your phone (preferably) or computer/ tablet, pen/pencil and paper. Thank you!
12.15 – 1.45pm
An introduction to the Steering Group feedback and evaluation process
Open to: Steering group members only
This session is exclusively for the steering group of 2019-2020. If you are a 19-20 Steering Group member, this session will introduce you to the feedback and evaluation process we have planned for you over the upcoming weeks.
It is important that you have an opportunity to feedback on your experiences of being on the OMOF Steering Group, reflect on the challenges you have overcome and the achievements you have accomplished as individuals and as a team over the past year.
In this session we will begin the feedback and evaluation process by asking what you liked or enjoyed about your role; what you found challenging; what we did well and what we could improve on. We will also let you know about different ways you can reflect on your time as a Steering Group member and share your thoughts and ideas over the upcoming weeks.
2.30pm – 4pm
Black minds matter:
Building an anti-racist activism to address racial injustice in the mental health system
Open to: Everyone, including young people from Mind’s youth activist network and Peace First’s young Peace Makers.
We are a movement standing up for the rights of young people. But, as has been highlighted by recent global events, we know that for black young people, those rights are too often disregarded, disrespected and out of reach.
Black young people find it particularly difficult to get what they need from the mental health system and are underrepresented in mainstream mental health health activism too.
In this session we will be talking about the racial inequalities in the mental health system and how we can address this injustice using a human rights approach and developing an actively anti-racist activism.
This session will be a safe space to share experiences, and to learn and plan how to build racial justice into our campaigning. We want to ensure our activism and the spaces we create are not just inclusive, but actively anti-racist. This will require challenging ourselves, getting uncomfortable and listening with open minds and hearts to our black peers. In order to prepare for the session, we recommend reading the following beforehand:
- Tips for white and non-black attendees on ‘How to be a good ally‘ – please consider these as you enter the space, as talking about racism and racial injustice can be challenging and painful for the black young people taking part, as well as uncomfortable for white allies who want to move from being ‘not racist’ to actively anti-racist.
- Explainer of ‘white privilege’ from News Round – we know this can be an uncomfortable concept to grapple with, so please read and watch the videos if you’re not sure what it means. There are also some compelling examples of the painful experiences of racism faced every day by black people in the UK which white people may be completely unaware of, in Channel Four’s mini-series Take Your Knee Off My Neck.
- A guide to avoid ‘racial gaslighting’ – it’s useful for all attendees to be aware of how the experiences of people of colour can be subtly undermined, including in activist spaces. If you are feeling like this is happening in the session, please do raise it with a staff member and feel free to take breaks from discussion. You do not need to share painful personal experiences of racism or mental illness to justify your opinions.
- Steering Group member Sophie’s blog on racial injustice in mental health
- Make Our Rights Reality’s solidarity statement with Black Lives Matter
- Article – Anti-racism requires more than just passive sympathy
The session will be chaired by Noni Makuyana, a facilitator, organiser and artist with a passion for reclaiming erased histories of marginalised peoples as central to transformative social change.
We’ll also have presentations from some young Black experts and activists:
Kadra Abdinasir, Head of Children and Young People’s Programme at the Centre for Mental Health and organiser with Charity So White.
Iona Macpherson, an advocate and activist representing Black Minds Matter UK, and recent graduate of Cambridge University where she was involved in awareness raising around mental health and racial justice.
4.20 – 5.50pm
Communications training workshop
Open to: Everyone!
How can we effectively communicate our campaign messages to the public? What can we do to make social media a tool for positive change? Why is it important to think strategically?
Join the Steering Group communications team to hear what they have learned about engaging digital communications, check out some inspiring ideas from other campaigns, and get stuck in with an exercise to harness your creativity and try out new skills.
Note: All participants should sign up for a Canva account before the session. Participants will recieve an e-mail invite to join the Make Our Rights Reality Canva team.
END OF DAY 1
