The Full Story

Advocacy By Design

Join us on our journey as we expand our Advocacy empowerment toolkit to Brixton

Brixton Area Profile & Community

Location of Proposed Drop-In Clinic

The Black community in Brixton / Lambeth plays a major role in the area’s cultural and social fabric. Demographically, Black residents are a significant proportion of the population, especially among younger groups. However:

Employment rates tend to lag behind white peers, and inequalities persist in pay and senior representation.
Housing insecurity and overcrowding disproportionately affect Black households.
Health challenges are more prevalent among Black residents, including chronic conditions and later diagnosis.
The education profile shows a large and growing cohort of Black young people, influencing future opportunities.

Mission statement

Our mission is to use advocacy tools to empower Brixton residents so they can navigate systems with confidence, dignity and support, by providing culturally safe advocacy that challenges inequality and centres the lived experiences of Black and marginalised communities

Vision

Our vision is a future where systems no longer disadvantage Black people, where inequality is actively dismantled, and where Brixton residents with complex and intersecting identities have; the knowledge, tools, and support to shape their own lives and outcomes.

Personas

As part of our planning for the Brixton drop-in advocacy clinic, we developed a set of personas based on the themes, challenges, and lived experiences shared by residents who access our services. These personas are not literal representations of real individuals, nor should they ever be used to stereotype, generalise, or reduce people to categories. Instead, they help us understand the intersectional complexities that shape the experiences of Black Caribbean and Black British residents in Brixton.

Toolkit

We are using a self-advocacy toolkit with Brixton residents because many people in the area face complex, overlapping barriers when navigating health, housing, benefits, and wellbeing systems. These systems often use inaccessible language, rely on digital access, and are not designed with Black communities or multiply marginalised people in mind. As a result, many residents feel unheard, confused, or excluded from decisions that affect their lives.

The online training programme was important because it equipped residents with the knowledge, tools, and confidence needed to advocate effectively within systems that are often difficult to navigate.