<div>With deep sadness, we regret to share that our recent funding application was unsuccessful and our current funding will end after April 2026.
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<div>We are actively making new applications and will continue to do so, but have thus far been unable to secure the funding we need to sustain our crucial services - a disheartening reflection of the current reality for many community organisations and small charities across the country.
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<div><strong>Since 2021 we have supported over 2,500 community members.</strong> Now, we must raise £100,000 by end of April to keep our essential therapy services, befriending project, cultural competence training, and community events alive.
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<div>If we don’t reach this goal, <strong>we will be forced to terminate our Mental Health Programme, </strong>close our waiting lists, and turn away <strong>hundreds </strong>of community members in need of our services.
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<div>We’re lucky to belong to strong, caring communities. <strong>Community care isn’t abstract - it lives in action.</strong> Sometimes it means listening, and sometimes it’s arriving in times of need with resources in hand. If you can, please donate to our GoFundMe and share this with 3 people who support our mission for racial justice and strong collective mental health.
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<div><strong><em>"Sesame Organisation offers a safe comforting and nurturing environment, especially for ESEAs, that I personally have never seen or experienced elsewhere."</em></strong>
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<div>People from East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) communities across the country are reaching out to us, facing anxiety, depression, trauma, racism and isolation - but <strong>culturally competent, language-specific mental health support is still incredibly hard to access, and wait times for mainstream services are long. </strong>
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<div>More people ask us for help than we have the resources to support. When our current funding ends in April, communities will no longer have access to our life-saving mental health services.
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<div><strong><em>"These sessions changed my vision in life and made me realise that I matter.”</em></strong>
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<div>Every penny donated to our GoFundMe makes a huge difference.
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<li><strong>£20</strong> will pay towards running the Befriending buddy scheme for 1 pair, reducing isolation and fostering cross-cultural friendships
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<li><strong>£200 </strong>will pay towards a wellness facilitator, food, and venue for a community event impacting 30+ community members at our events
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<li><strong>£500</strong> will pay for 10 life changing individual therapy sessions for 1 community member
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<li><strong>£800</strong> will pay for 10 hours of group therapy for 10 community members
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<div>The numbers...*
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<li>Asian and Asian British communities face the <strong>longest waiting times</strong> according to a 2025 NHS report.
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<li>Nationally from 2019-2020, <strong>hate crimes against ESEA individuals increased by 70%</strong>. <strong>London reported the largest increase of 400%</strong> (2019-2022).
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<li>Despite the peaks of the pandemic ending, <strong>hate crime levels against ESEA individuals have never returned to pre-pandemic levels.</strong> Hate crime levels reported in 2023 were still 61% higher than in 2018.
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<li><strong>99% </strong>of those who were subjected to hate crime suffered <strong>negative impacts to their well-being. </strong>
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<div>This makes free, culturally competent, language-specific, trauma informed, grassroots mental health services like ours absolutely essential and highly relevant today in 2026.
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<div>We provide free, culturally-competent, language-specific counselling, peer support groups and safe community spaces where people can speak openly, feel understood, and begin to heal. For many of our service users, <strong>this is the first time they have ever been able to talk about their mental health without shame or stigma. </strong>
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<div>All our therapists are qualified professionals from East and Southeast Asian backgrounds, ensuring a true grassroots service. <strong>We pay our therapists a full and fair wage</strong>, because we aren’t just supporting communities in the present - <strong>we are building a future full of more ESEA therapists in the sector, and less mental health stigma in the generations to come.</strong>
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<div>But without funding, we cannot continue our mission.
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<div><em>“I would like to extend my gratitude for the opportunity to facilitate group therapy sessions under Sesame Organisation. It is such an honour to work with you. Thank you for opening a new community for me too and another safe space for me as a professional (and as a Filipina aspiring to extend my reach in the community) - this truly means so much to me, professionally and personally. </em>
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<div><em>Thank you for the trust you’ve placed in me. I deeply value the spaces we shared (online or face to face) and the opportunity to witness people's lives transform. It is such a humbling experience and makes me feel close to home, thank you.”</em>
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<div><strong>Struggle, resilience, and hope</strong> have always been core pillars to the work we do. When we were founded in 2020, it was against a backdrop of <strong>hate, discrimination, and uncertainty.</strong> Six years later in 2026, these challenges persist for our communities and our work remains more relevant than ever.
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<div><strong>Our work isn’t just important for today’s generation, but for all future generations to come.</strong> In destigmatising mental health discussions and accessing mental health services in ESEA communities, <strong>we are working to reshape and heal an entire culture.</strong>
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<div>The work is not yet done, but we need the resources to continue fighting.
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<div><strong><em>CASE STUDY: The United Domestic Workers’ Alliance (UDWA)</em></strong>
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<div>We work with communities to shape the services they need most.
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<div>For instance, the UDWA is a community organisation of Filipino domestic workers rescued from exploitation advocating for justice, fair work, and dignity for migrant domestic workers. From May 2024, we <strong>co-designed</strong> a personalised group therapy service with UDWA members, <strong>placing their community voices at the centre and giving members real control over the support they received</strong>. This approach ensured members had ownership over design and delivery, leading to improved wellbeing and <strong>resilience </strong>amongst the community members.
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<div><em>“This therapy helps me a lot to manage my emotions, mentally, emotionally and physically. It change[d] my vision in life and it makes me realise that I matter.”</em>
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<div><em>“Maraming support at impacts sa akin ang mental health therapy para sa akin (Mental health therapy has given me a lot of support and has had a big impact on me).”</em>
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<div>Sources
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<div>*Protection Approaches, <a href="https://protectionapproaches.org/esea-hate-crime-report" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">East and Southeast Asian communities’ experience of hate crime in the UK</a>, April 2024
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Kadebruh CF

Lisa Herring

kate brocklesby

Anonymous

Irene Chang-Bearelly

Cristina Sugoni

Mr W P Rowan

Karisa Augustus

Sam Bani-Hashemian

Thais Dutra Muller

Kestutis Rusas

Anthony Sin

Kim Dao

Peter Mohammed

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Donate to support our free mental health services!

Still £96,660 to go. Help us build momentum.