The Reflection Project

Onwards & Upwards Barnet

As part of our TRP Barnet project, we collaborate with a number of statutory and VCSE organisations including Barnet council’s Onwards and Upwards. The Onwards and Upwards Centre provides opportunities and support for care-experienced young people and children in care, including unaccompanied children seeking asylum (UASC). Many of these are of Muslim heritage and express a preference for faith-sensitive mental health support, often in their mother tongue. The Reflection Project works with many of these young people, providing therapy at the Centre or in local schools and mosques.

My Family Group

The Reflection Project worked with My Family Group (including My Adoption Family and My Foster Family) to help adopters and foster parents understand mental health issues commonly faced by adopted and looked-after children, and how to provide appropriate support. This included a roundtable: The needs and challenges of Muslim children in care, and contributions to the Muslim Adoption Toolkit.

Somali Bravanese Welfare Association

The Somali community was particularly hard-hit by Covid-19, with many families losing loved ones. The Reflection Project worked with the SBWA to facilitate online groups and holiday workshops for children (aged 6-16) to explore the emotional impact of the pandemic. The workshops were a space to explore that experience through collaborative art, and produced some striking images expressing widely varying and often conflicting feelings about their experiences during the pandemic.

Wellbeing Workshops for Parents

Working in collaboration with the Center of Excellence, a non-profit committed to enhancing connections within communities, The Reflection Project piloted a series of workshops for parents/carers. These workshops, initially focusing on the Somali community, concentrate on children’s mental and emotional health. They serve as a space where parents engage in discussions with both experts and one another, fostering non-judgmental conversations about the impact of mental health issues on family life, and boosting parents’ capacity to support their children.

Reflective Discussion Space for Social Workers

This programme was created by My Adoption Family for social workers in the adoption sector, and facilitated by The Reflection Project. It consisted of a series of six 90-minute sessions at 6-8 week intervals, and took place online.

The programme was for social workers who work with Muslim and Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic adopters or potential adopters. It provided a supported space in which to reflect on the challenges of the work, including the emotions it can provoke and the impact on the individuals and networks involved.