Cllr Jackson with Juniorbarber at Jonnies in Finsbury Park

“DISRUPT it or die trying!” was the Town Hall’s rallying call as it launched a new scheme to tackle the “pipeline from poverty to school exclusions to criminal justice to mental health” among young black men in the borough.

Elevate is the council’s new £1.6million scheme geared towards tackling the structural problems underlying the poor mental health outcomes many young black men and boys experience.

Speaking at the launch event at Platform Youth Hub this week, council officer Amy Buxton Jennings said there exists “a pipeline from poverty to school exclusions to criminal justice to mental health, and there are so many people who are going through that pipeline. And I feel very strongly that it’s our responsibility – to disrupt it or die trying.”

The programme, thought up and overseen by Holloway councillor Jason Jackson and funded by the NHS, will see action taken in schools and the community.

Mitch Fly, Amani Simpson, Cllr Roulin Khondoker, Ivelaw King, Cllr Jason Jackson, Richard Sigobodhla, Cllr Bashir Ibrahim and Kwaku Asiedu

Five barbers across the borough will be trained up as “mental health ambassadors” to recognise struggling customers, while four schools will be given a full-time trained counsellor to support young black men and boys with their mental health.

An “Elevate” hub has also been designed to offer “wrap-around” support for 16- to 25-year-olds who are at risk of poor mental health.

Statistics show that black people are disproportionately impacted by inequality in the UK, with black pupils making up two-thirds of permanent school exclusions.

Sixty per cent of black people in England feel they are treated with less respect than others because of their ethnicity.

Storyteller, entre­preneur and youth coach Amani Simpson speaking at the launch

These inequalities can lead to mental illness, research shows, with black men in Britain 17 times more likely than white men to be diagnosed with serious mental health problems. They are also four times more likely to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

“The idea around the barber shops was with me before I got elected – to me it was important, one of the reasons I got involved in politics. I felt the black community was not engaged properly. I thought: where are those spaces where the black community are, especially young black boys?” Cllr Jackson said.

Cllr Jason Jackson outside Jonnies barbers in Finsbury Park

“When we looked at how to support young black boys, their mental health and exclusions from schools, it dawned on me: let’s do something with barbers.

“My barber has played a big part in my life, it’s one of the places I go to and it’s like therapy. It’s a moment of silence where your phone doesn’t ring, you engage in a little conversation around you. You go in looking one way and leave the room feeling renewed.”

Cllr Jackson, whose barber is Jonnies in Finsbury Park, said he would like to see the scheme rolled out to more barbers across the borough, and then across the capital.

“You tell them about your life – it’s a unique connection and it’s about trust as well. People are conscious about their hair looking a certain way, and they need to know they can trust them,” Cllr Jackson said.