October is Black History Month, and this year’s theme is Standing Firm in Power and Pride — a theme that resonates deeply with the work we do in Haringey.
With 18% of Haringey’s population identifying as Black, this month is a powerful reminder of the importance of celebrating identity, challenging inequities, and amplifying voices.

For over 15 years, our mission has been to tackle health inequalities across the borough, empowering individuals from diverse communities to lead healthier lives. At the core of our approach is the belief that change will only happen when communities are heard, included, and celebrated.

As an organisation with a Senior Leadership Team that is 75% Black and deeply rooted in Black history, we’re proud to reflect on and celebrate the incredible, Black-led grassroots organisations we partner with, whose work is vital in helping us move closer to our vision of a Haringey free from health inequalities.

We are proud to work alongside Black-led local grassroots organisations such as Haringey Basketball for All, Sewn Together, Black Arts Production, Rise, and Dalmar Heritage & Family Development and Godwin Lawson Foundation, who are doing fantastic work in their communities. Together, we’re helping to ensure that the voices of Black African and Black Caribbean communities are heard — and that the barriers they face are brought to the forefront of service design, delivery, and commissioning.

Building Healthier Black Communities

With Sewn Together, an organisation that supports Black African and Black Caribbean women to thrive, we’ve increased breast cancer screening among black communities in the borough.

With Haringey Basketball for All, we’ve increased prostate cancer awareness and prostate health among Black men.

Together with Sewn Together and Dalmar Heritage & Family Development, we’ve worked together to shine a light on the barriers that exist around accessing the MMR vaccine, co-producing solutions and increasing vaccine take-up.

Through our Research Engagement Network, we’re empowering Research Champions from Rise (Somali communities), Sewn Together, Haringey Basket for All, and Black Arts Production to increase research participation among Black communities, ensuring a better understanding of heart conditions that disproportionately affect Black people.

Through our Racial Equity Group alongside our statutory partners, we’re working to improve racial equity across the health sector in the borough at every level, raising awareness and improving health equity for all.

Building Stronger and Safer Black Communities

Through our Youth Echo programme, we’re working to reduce racial inequity by amplifying the voices of young people in the borough, including those from Black communities. We empower them to stand in their power and pride by providing opportunities to develop their public speaking skills on issues that matter to them, and by supporting them in co-producing social action projects that drive systemic change in key areas, such as health, employment, policing, and education.

We know there's still much more to do. But we stand proudly in our history, our identity, and our purpose — rooted in the belief that community empowerment is the key to a healthier, fairer Haringey.

This Black History Month, we celebrate the power and pride that fuels our work — and the communities that inspire it.