About Us

What is ADIRA?

ADIRA, which comes from the Hebrew word meaning ‘strong, dignified and powerful’, works in the following ways:

• providing black people (of all ages - men, women and children) who have experienced, or who are currently experiencing, mental health issues with a safe, friendly, culturally-sensitive meeting space, education and training, information and advice, and social & leisure activities.

• engaging with young black people, to maximise their potential and nurture increased aspirations whilst improving resilience.

• organising events to raise awareness of issues affecting the black community.

Ursula founded ADIRA in 2012 along with Marjorie Frater and Amina Ali. To find out what we're doing now, have a look at the What's On page.

What we offer

• A support group for black women, called Black Mental Wellness. We meet once a month, and more information can be found on the What's On page.

• Listening Training from 5th August 2020.  Following this we will be launching our new Listening Service!

• Young, Black and Gifted awards. These awards will celebrate the achievements and hard work of young black people, contrasting strongly with their often negative stereotype in the media.  Whilst this is currently postponed due to COVID-19, we hope to reschedule for a future date.


• A range of yearly awareness raising conferences. These have been really successful, and are designed to open up conversations around mental health in the black community.