Watch the recording
This event took place on 29th November, 11:30am – 12:30pm
Join us for a panel discussion about how peer support has and can continue to challenge hierarchical models of “care”, and the relationship between peer support and activism. We’ll be joined by Marc Thompson (The Love Tank CIC), Lisa Archibald (Intentional Peer Support) and Anandi Ramamurthy (CHARM). Panelists will discuss their experiences of what changes when people have the resources and support to care for each other. We’ll also discuss how we can preserve peer support’s radical potential against co-option, and how peer support can work in activist and change-making spaces.
Chair: Ruairi White
Guests: Lisa Archibald, Marc Thompson, Anandi Ramamurthy
- This session is for NSUN members. Membership is free and open to user-led groups and individuals with lived experience of mental ill-health, distress, and trauma. If you are not already a member, please sign up before registering.
- This session will have British Sign Language interpretation and Zoom closed captions enabled. Please let us know of any other accessibility requirements in the sign up form. If you need help with costs to be able to access this event, we may be able to make a contribution – please email us at info@nsun.org.uk.
- This session will be recorded and shared later for people who cannot attend. For more information, please visit the Conduct Agreement & Data Page.
- Please note that to avoid disruption or distraction, we will be unable to admit people who arrive ten minutes after the start time.
- You will need to agree to NSUN’s conduct agreement in order to register:
We want virtual NSUN spaces to be safe, welcoming, and inclusive. Harassment, hate speech, and inappropriate behaviour of any kind, verbal or in the chat/Q&A, will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to immediately remove any attendee we consider to be in breach of this conduct agreement. This includes anyone making racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or otherwise discriminatory, offensive, or hateful remarks.
Removed participants will not be able to re-join the session, or, if applicable, join any of the rest of the sessions in a day or series of events. In order to avoid the derailing of sessions we will not enter into conversations around why conduct was deemed inappropriate in the sessions themselves.
Lisa Archibald (she/her)
Lisa Archibald is a proud Scot who moved home to the Scottish Borders in 2020 after living and learning in New Zealand for nearly 7 years. Lisa first accessed peer support as a young person in the 1990’s as a student. After leaving university in 1999 she started to facilitate groups and offer 1:1 youth peer support. Lisa went on to set up and deliver advocacy services, adult peer support groups and led innovative community projects both in Scotland and in New Zealand. Lisa was a UK Winston Churchill fellow in 2013, completed a Yale Let(s) LEAD fellowship in 2019 and PgCert in Mad Studies in 2023. In January, 2022, Lisa is a Co-Director of Intentional Peer Support along with founder Shery Mead and her partner Chris Hansen.
Marc Thompson (he/him)
Marc Thompson is a creative activist, health promotion specialist, podcaster and LGBTQ+ cultural curator. He has been at the forefront of HIV activism and education since 1986. Marc is currently the co-director of The Love Tank, a not-for-profit organisation working to promotes the health and wellbeing of under-served communities through campaigning, education, and research.
Most recently Marc curated the digital archive and podcast series ‘Black and Gay, Back in the Day’ documenting Black LGBT life in Britain since the 1970s, launched the podcast series We Were Always Here, telling the story of the UK HIV epidemic through unheard voices and Queer Roots and Routes exploring the lives of queer migrant men in the UK. Marc is an ambassador for Opening Doors London, working to raise awareness and address the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people aged 50+
Anandi Ramamurthy (she/her)
Anandi Ramamurthy is the parent of a young person in an altered state and an advocate for compassionate approaches to mental crisis. She is a co-founder of Communities for Holistic Accessible Rights-based Mental health (CHARM). She is an anti racist activist and academic and co-director of EXPOSED, a film about racism in nursing.
Twitter: @anandimanc @CHARMmanchester
Ruairi White (they/he)
Ruairi White is NSUN’s Senior Communities and Grants Manager, supporting user-led groups to connect with each other and build for the future, and leading NSUN’s grant-making and resourcing work. He has a particular interest in participatory funding practices, supporting sustainable practices of community care and organising, and developing anti-carceral approaches to mental health and safety.
Twitter: @RuairiW_
NSUN Members' Event 2023 