A local mother is organising a youth wellbeing event on the Tulse Hill estate on Saturday (21 September).
Mariam Ibin-Ibrahim says it is the first she has ever hosted. She is working with the Christian peace charity, CHIPS, which is based in Angell Town and has worked in Brixton for 10 years.
The event, from noon to 3pm is at the adventure playground off Greenleaf Close (SW2 2EY) near the GLOWS building on the Tulse Hill estate.
It is dedicated to preventing and raising awareness of youth suicide as well as helping people who have been affected by the issue.
There will be workshops for young people from 11 to 20, including jewellery making, creative writing and candle making. There will be free refreshments and participants will receive gift bags backed by local businesses and organisations.
Mariam Ibin-Ibrahim said she is organising the event in the light of a tragedy in Kennington earlier this year.
A twelve-year-old boy died after he fell from a balcony on the upper floor of a high rise block of flats. He was a student at the same Brixton school as Mariam’s son – Trinity Academy.
Last Tuesday, 10 September, was World Suicide Prevention Day, which provides an opportunity to raise awareness of suicide and suicide prevention.
“All you need to do is bring the youth let them know and drop them off, the young ones can be accompanied,” said Mariam.
At the event, parents “can learn how to support their young people in the aftermath of events like this and where they can access further support”.
It is also designed to give young people who experience such loss a place to process their trauma through art and therapeutic interventions.
CHIPS said that one of its key projects in Brixton is the Helping Ear Network (HEN), a voluntary network of Lambeth-based parents: and carers who have been trained to provide support to other parents and carers across the borough. Mariam Ibrahim joined HEN as a volunteer in February this year.
Its volunteers offer one-to-one support for parents who are struggling to overcome barriers, such as housing or special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support, who need additional encouragement (feeling socially isolated, for instance), and in attending meetings with authorities like schools and statutory services.
They also help to organise events, such as Mariam’s, with parents and carers on topics that they identify as being important – training on coping with trauma, or a coffee morning to connect with other parents, for instance.
CHIPS works with MLCE (Motivate and Lead Community Enterprise, an education and employment project) to run the project which is funded by the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit and Lambeth council.
