Blackpool’s Activist Alliance
We are a community of people who share an ambition to improve the mental health of young people. Youth mental health in the UK is getting worse as inequality rises. We think now is the time for research and practice approaches that offer a radically different way of doing things.
Informed by our understanding of resilience, we believe that activism has the potential to offer this radically different way of promoting health and resilience.
For young people who face major challenges, taking part in community projects and social action may be an effective alternative alongside traditional services in improving our mental health and wellbeing. This happens through both the resilient moves made in the ‘doing’, and the fairer systems and structures that result. The Boingboing Foundation is therefore working to bring together young people and our allies in Blackpool to form an Activist Alliance; a collective looking to learn, teach, organise, campaign, fund and disrupt to make change big and small on the issues affecting us and our communities.
How we are supporting young people into activism
Skills and Knowledge Exchange
Blackpool Activist Alliance hosts free workshops for young activists and community organisers wanting to learn and teach how to ‘do’ activism. The Skills and Knowledge Exchange events are a space to meet with like-minded local people, share knowledge, skills and take steps together towards making change on the issues we care about. Whether you’re a complete newbie or seasoned activist, you’re welcome.
Activist in Residence
The Activist in Residence project is a paid opportunity for young people in Blackpool aged 16-24 develop and deliver an activist campaign based on their own ‘hope for change’. To make this happen, young people are matched with a host organisation seeking to promote youth voice and leadership either internally or in the wider community. The host organisation in return offers the resources, support and/or scaffolding for the campaign.
Community Co-research
We facilitate opportunities for people facing systemic disadvantage to take seats at the table in research projects that aim to tackle structural inequalities and social injustice. This disrupts power imbalances in research spaces, away from traditional sources of knowledge and towards those of us who are experts by experience. Co-research also gives the communities being studied ownership of the gathered evidence and insights. Disseminating this learning across the Activist Alliance, we aim to provide a direct route from community research to community action.
