Thrive & Vibe Wellbeing Programme Impact Report 2025

Black Thrive Lambeth's Thrive & Vibe programme is a BBC Children in Need-funded co-produced wellbeing initiative for young Black and mixed heritage children in Lambeth, designed by 11 community researchers aged 8–13. The programme delivered four events — Glow Up, Level Up, The Actors Toolkit and Rhythm & Rhymes — reaching 164 young people in total across gaming, drama, poetry, hair care and self-worth workshops. Over 90% of young people in poetry sessions reported experiencing anxiety or depression, and all activities were free. The programme was co-produced throughout: young researchers led on naming, curating, facilitating and evaluating every event from their weekly base at Brixton Tate Library.

Report snapshot
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📋About

Glow Up self-worth workshop (hair care, vision boards, affirmation cards, crochet — in partnership with Black Girl Fest and MCR Braiding); Level Up gaming and mental health sessions (in partnership with Esports Youth Club, BigKid Foundation, CHIPS and Baytree Centre); The Actors Toolkit drama and emotional expression workshop (facilitated by professional Black actors Tom Moutchi and Demmy Ladipo); Rhythm & Rhymes poetry and journaling sessions in schools (Norwood High School and Phoenix Place, in partnership with Poetic Unity CIC); all sessions free; goody bags with Black-owned hair care products Custom geography from upload: Lambeth, South London, UK (Brixton, West Norwood, Angell Town)

📊Key Metrics

164 young Black and mixed heritage people reached across four co-produced wellbeing events; 65 students reached through Rhythm & Rhymes poetry workshops in Lambeth schools Key Metric 1
45 young women attended Glow Up (hair, skin, self-worth workshop); 40 young people engaged through Level Up gaming sessions across Lambeth youth clubs; 14 participated in The Actors Toolkit drama workshop Key Metric 2
Over 90% of young people in Rhythm & Rhymes poetry sessions said they had experienced anxiety or depression; programme co-produced with 11 young researchers aged 8–13 using the Tree of Life strengths-based approach Key Metric 3

Key Outcomes

  • Glow Up participants left with improved confidence in hair care and self-esteem; Actors Toolkit: all participants said they would attend future sessions and loved the format; young researchers involved in naming, curating and producing all four events
  • Research phase identified poverty, homelessness and racialised bullying as top factors affecting Black children's mental health in Lambeth — programme directly addressed all three through co-designed activities
  • Programme co-produced by 11 young researchers (Asmahan, Azariah, Anu, Kayaan, Latyree, Raphel, Saleema, Sharon, Shakari, Yejide and Zahara) who met weekly at Brixton Tate Library — redefining young people as architects rather than recipients of youth programmes

📍Geography

London

2025 Enhanced

Annual Review April 2024 to March 2025

Social care services provided to thousands of people with learning disabilities; information and advice service caseloads growing in complexity; financial resilience rebuilt ahead of NI cost pressures
Key Metric 1
Omaze Yorkshire House Draw partnership raised £3.9m in 6 weeks with Jodie Whittaker as ambassador; awareness of people with learning disability significantly boosted through campaign
Key Metric 2
Voices Council (led by people with learning disabilities) challenged decisions on service handbacks, agency staffing and benefits access; new strategy to 2030 under development; new CEO Jon Sparkes OBE joined June 2024
Key Metric 3
Rebuilt financial resilience ahead of NI cost increases — 'more fortunate than many in the sector'; 80th anniversary approaching; new CEO appointed to lead strategy development
2024 Enhanced

Annual Report and Accounts 2024

518 new guide dog partnerships created in 2024 — 10% increase beating projections; 1,379 new puppies from breeding programme; 400th buddy dog partnership matched
Key Metric 1
17,500+ volunteers giving 12 million+ volunteer hours collectively; 2,400+ volunteers looked after dogs; 7,000+ training sessions on tech, travel and life skills delivered by Vision Rehabilitation Specialists
Key Metric 2
£47m raised through Sponsor a Puppy; £3.1m from raffles; £8.3m increased income from gifts in Wills; 3.45 million clicks to digital information and advice content; 5,900 visits to new Tech Selector assistive tech review tool
Key Metric 3
1,864 children and family members attended My Time to Play sessions; 6,852 large-print books delivered; 5,991 habilitation sessions completed to help children learn essential skills; 432,817 online learners accessing digital content
2025 Enhanced

Annual Report 2024-25

202,694 people supported across 270 locations; 74,070 in drug and alcohol; 102,531 in mental health; 1,035 in learning disability; turnover £191.9m
Key Metric 1
96% of regulated services rated Good or Outstanding by CQC; 12,456 naloxone kits dispensed (5.6% increase); 11,405 Hepatitis C tests (59% increase); 7,448 FibroScans (300% increase)
Key Metric 2
234 peer mentors; 82 volunteers; 5,194 colleagues (60% with lived experience); £7.79m invested in local VCSE organisations; £131.87m social value from local employment
Key Metric 3
87% of people supported have overall positive experience; 90% feel safe; 774/1,063 (72%) in Birmingham social prescribing service achieved goals across health, community, emotional and employment domains; new Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership reached over 160 staff in year one