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@severalseats_

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We aim to promote mental health in women from ethnic minority backgrounds. We champion women making a difference in our community. #womenempowerment

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Don’t miss out!

Join us for an evening of pure inspiration with truly incredible women.

Grab your tickets before they’re gone, sales end April 21st!

BOOK NOW

https://womenofinspiration2026.eventbrite.co.uk

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Reflecting on the incredible energy from last year’s Women of Inspiration Awards!

We are so excited to do it all over again. The countdown is officially on to celebrate the trail-blazing women making a difference in our community.

Who will be joining us this year?

Nominate:
www.woi-awards.co.uk

#WomenOfInspiration #Celebrate #inspiringchange

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🚀 We’re back again celebrating the incredible GirlDreamer’s, who are innovative, creating safe spaces AND uplifting their communities. 🚀

✨With our collaboration with Alliance of Gender Equality (AGEE), we’ve been able to fund and support these incredible GirlDreamer’s with £2.5K each!✨

Swipe to get to know each of our AGEE x Dream Fund founders and learn more about their work >>>> and be sure to support and follow their journeys: 👀

👉🏽 Sannah Khan / @therizqsistas

👉🏽 Ikram Hirse / @mimbar360_

👉🏽 Hope Cunningham / @chickenandbreadzine

👉🏽 Chika Shalom Ononuju / @socialslott

👉🏽 Sarah Najjuma / @discoverdiaspora

👉🏽 Qiuyan Chen / @queerchinauk

👉🏽 Cream (Nopanut) Plianpan / @boundary.lab

👉🏽 Anisha Parmar & Neelam Mistry-Thaker / @adornednarratives

👉🏽 Elicia Curtis / @thereigncollectivecic

👉🏽 @tinuke_oyediran / @freshairsociety_

👉🏽 @danielle_adewusi / @scrubthestigma

👉🏽 Joan OluwaBusola Idowu / @severalseats_

Make sure to follow these phenomenal founders and keep an eye out as we share more about their journeys.

🚨The next round of Dream Fund applications will open in January 2026, so keep your eyes peeled here and on our newsletter for more updates!

#GirlDreamer #DreamFund
#WOCEntrepreneurs #WOCInBusiness #SocialImpact #WomenSupportingWomen #FundingWomen #DreamBig #FutureLeaders

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Aaaand that’s a wrap!💥

Our final Dream Fund Masterclass of 2025 just took place on Friday, in London.

A room filled with ambition, dreams and changemakers, so basically a room filled with GirlDreamer’s!👩🏽‍💻

This year has been incredibly inspiring, as we’ve secured even more funds to continue growing initiatives like the Dream Fund where we get to fund your dreams and visions for a better world.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended and for our awesome line-up of speakers for bringing their expertise and magic to the space:

👉🏽 Nafisa Bakkar | @nafisabakkar
👉🏽 Amber Shand | @amberleetech
👉🏽 The Noire Space | @thenoirespace

There’s nothing more powerful than surrounded yourself with like minded people and spaces when growing your organisation and presence within the social impact sector.✨

🚨The next round of Dream Fund applications will open in January 2026, so keep your eyes peeled here and on our newsletter for more updates!

#girldreamer #dreamfund #community #women #womenofcolour #womeninspiringwomen #womensupportingwomen #womenintech #womenenterpreneur #entrepreneurship

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Nothing is more powerful than funding women of colour who are making an impact!🥇🚀

Introducing...
our ✨Dream Fund x AGEE 4.0 cohort✨.

Our partnership with the Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe (AGEE), is actively working to invest in women of colour social entrepreneurs, who are creating innovative solutions to key societal challenges and safe spaces for their communities to thrive.

As an organisation co-founded by women of colour that took six months to secure our first small grant, (which came after an initial personal investment of a whopping £500), we know all about the importance of funding. Especially in those early stages and what belief, support, resource, community, access and a little money can do when you have a clear vision, reason and skills for impact.

We’re so thrilled to welcome more GirlDreamer’s into our space and community and are so excited to close off this final 4.0 cohort of 2025 with such a powerful group of leaders.

This cohort has grown in size and in fact, there’s so many lovely faces, we definitely struggled to fit everyone into one page!

Meet our newest Dream Fund grantees:

👉🏽 Sannah Khan / @therizqsistas

👉🏽 Ikram Hirse / @mimbar360_

👉🏽 Hope Cunningham / @chickenandbreadzine

👉🏽 Chika Shalom Ononuju / @socialslott

👉🏽 Sarah Najjuma / @discoverdiaspora

👉🏽 Qiuyan Chen / @queerchinauk

👉🏽 Cream (Nopanut) Plianpan / @boundary.lab

👉🏽 Anisha Parmar & Neelam Mistry-Thaker / @adornednarratives

👉🏽 Elicia Curtis / @thereigncollectivecic

👉🏽 @tinuke_oyediran / @freshairsociety_

👉🏽 @danielle_adewusi / @scrubthestigma

👉🏽 Joan OluwaBusola Idowu / @severalseats_

Make sure to follow these phenomenal founders and keep an eye out as we share more about their journeys.👀

✨We have another two years of the Dream Fund, thanks to our friends at AGEE.✨

📣2026 can be your year, so keep a look out!

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Thrilled to see the Women of Inspiration Awards 2025 launch featured in the local media! @nisaal1 @fight4amani @hananbayanoni @maryxm.5 @dm_zanib.raja @hinaxshafi @alnikah

Read the coverage here: [Luton Today](https://www.lutontoday.co.uk/community/women-of-inspiration-awards-honours-local-heroes-once-again-5005676).

Know an inspiring woman? Nominate her today! [woi-awards.co.uk](https://www.woi-awards.co.uk).

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Women inspire change, break barriers, and lead with courage. The world shines brighter because of their resilience, wisdom, and boundless potential. Dare to believe in your dreams and embrace your uniqueness.
You're fearfully and wonderful made, let's go 🚶‍♀️ 👏 ❤️ 🙌 and rule through God's help, Amen.
It is the next plot.#epicmomhub #mentalhealthmatters #tech #mumlife

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We asked our community to nominate individuals and organisations making a meaningful impact to support others on their mental health and well-being journey. Based on their feedback, here are our top 4 nominees in each category:

1. Well-being Podcast of the Year
2. Mental Health Influencer of the Year
3. Mental Health Service of the Year
4. Mental Health Advocate of the Year
5. Community Organisation of the Year

We’re going to have inspiring people in the room on 10th October. Come and celebrate with us. It’s going to be the Well-being Celebration of the Year!

Come back tomorrow at 7:00pm to find out who else has been nominated for this year’s IOW Awards.

Link in our bio

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We’re seeking sponsors and partners for our upcoming Women of Inspiration Awards. Together, let’s shine a spotlight on outstanding women who inspire change and innovation.
Interested in supporting or partnering with us?
Send us a message to learn more about the opportunities available.
Let’s celebrate greatness and make a lasting impact! #WomenOfInspiration #Sponsorship #Partnership”

@tokkoyouthspace @severalseats_ @crisisaiduk @alnikah @naz_hairandmakeup @dessertdiaries_by_amnayousaf @shaneeqbridal @themallluton

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This is a vulnerable post for me.

But bearing the title of a psychologist comes with responsibility. It is important to highlight the issues facing ethnic minorities who try to access psychological therapy services. The barriers, access issues and lack of cultural safety are very real.

As a woman of South Asian heritage, my identity is intersectional, like many in my personal, social and professional world.

I've discussed this before, but need to illuminate these significant issues again.

I worry that western and Euro-centric ideologies within the psychology world risk being reductionist and even harmful for women who look like me. Holding culture in mind and actively pursuing to understand the world of the "person of colour" is imperative for culturally informed and safe care. And it should be at the heart of all therapy.

I've said this before, it's not just the person and their body that enters the therapy room (online or otherwise), their entire cultural lineage, their community, the construction of their gender, race, body, the land of their ethnic heritage, the traumas of their parents, grandparents and ancestors, their entire cultural hxstory enters the therapy space with them. It is our duty to help construct a therapy landscape that is inclusive, intersectional, and puts culture at the heart of the work.

I've talked about Kareem (1992) before:
"A therapeutic approach that does not fully take into account the person's identity, ethnicity, culture, and social values would fragment that person"

#decolonisingpsychology
#decolonizingpsychology
#decolonisingtherapy
#decolonizingtherapy
#bipocmentalhealth
#bipocmentalhealthawareness
#bamementalhealth
#bamementalhealthmatters
#raceandmentalhealth
#diversityinpsychology
#southasianpsychologist
#southasianmentalhealthawareness
#southasianpsychology
#southasiantherapists
#southasiantherapy
#asianpsychologist
#indianpsychologists
#britishasiantherapist
#decolonisinghealthcare
#medicaltraumaticstress
#nhstherapy
#southasianwomenshealth
#southasianwomensmentalhealth
#woctherapist
#culturallysensitivetherapy
#culturalconsultant
#southasiantrauma
#browngirltrauma
#chronicallybrown

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So after I shared my experience of psychological therapy with a non-culturally informed Psychologist in the NHS, I received a few DM's from women who come from a variety of cultural backgrounds.

I'm interested in putting the question out there and asking you what your experiences were of accessing psychological therapy with a
therapist/psychologist who did not represent your cultural and racial background.
What was this process like?
What were the difficulties in the therapy journey?
Did you feel able to ask if you could see a therapist from a similar cultural background to you?
Was there room for conversations around culture, race, oppression, privilege or intergenerational trauma?
How did it feel to talk about your cultural story and experiences under the white gaze?
There might even have been some positive experiences, what were they?

I'm keen to hear experiences from women from all ethnic minority backgrounds.

If you don't wish to comment in this post (which I totally understand), then please DM me your thoughts and experiences privately.

I'm hoping, with your permission, to then share your experiences here on Instagram (anonymity will be protected. Your name and instagram details will not be mentioned in the post).

Please share this post widely! If it falls flat on its face then that's the way the cookie crumbles! But at least I would have tried to get this conversation going!

#southasianwomen
#southasianwomenempowerment
#southasianpsychologist
#southasianmentalhealthawareness
#bamementalhealthmatters
#bamewomen
#bamementalhealth
#bamemothers
#desiwomen
#woctherapy
#wocmentalhealth
#ethnicminoritywomen
#hinduwomen
#muslimwomenpsychology
#indianpsychologists
#woctherapist
#londonpsychologist
#britishasianmentalhealth
#britishasianwomen
#southasiantherapist
#southasianexperience
#desimentalhealth
#southasiantherapists
#southasiantherapy
#blackwomenintherapy
#brownwomenmatter
#brownwomenslivesmatter
#brownpsychologist
#minoritymentalhealthmatters
#mixedracewomen

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👩‍🦰 Who are the remarkable women in your life who inspire you every day? 💫 Nominate them for the Women of Inspiration Awards! Share their stories in the comments below, tag,nominate and let’s shine a spotlight on their strength, resilience, and achievements. Together, let’s celebrate the incredible women who shape our world with their grace, courage, and unwavering determination!

https://form.jotform.com/240773298645367

#WomenOfInspiration #NominateNow #Empowerment 🌟👩‍🔬🏆.

@tokkoyouthspace @lutoncouncil @lutonrising @boxingsaveslivesofficial @severalseats_ @themarialovell @lutonfoodbank @aneesakiani @massi_masala @alia.khan._ s @hinaxshafi @optimise_with_me @wcwluton @crescent.hall @tysiegallagher @womensaidinluton @lutonallwomenscentre @zangazangafitness @lcfitness_team_ @dm_zanib.raja @love_luton

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