Our Stories:
Meet Dean

“The project was born out of a grass-roots response to the situation myself and others were seeing.  We could see the health inequalities that were taking place in this community. In response to that, we sought to tackle issues through health and well-being.   

Fast forward to now and we began to notice every week, funeral procession after funeral procession. It got us thinking about what support was available and where people go. There are mainstream services but they weren’t being accessed. Partly due to trust, cultural sensitivity and ignorance- not knowing they exist or seeking them out. 

People already know about us and trust us and we wanted to create support within the community, help them with their anxiety, sleep deprivation and all the other symptoms that come with a hard bereavement. Coping with Bereavement Project (CWBP) was formed as a result. Through that we heard about the Addressing Mental Health Inequalities Fund from Leeds Community Foundation. It gave us the opportunity to provide professional counselling. 

One of our main support schemes was the Care Cafe. It’s a safe space for people to offload, share and learn coping mechanisms from one another. We’ve had to go on Zoom with those through the pandemic but it’s still very popular and people find them extremely useful.” 

Calm and Centred CIC focus on crisis prevention and self-care by providing person centred support. With support from Leeds Community Foundation’s Addressing Mental Health Inequalities in Minority Ethnic Groups programme, they delivered various activities to address issues associated with bereavement such as low moods, anxiety, stress and sleep deprivation.