During the COVID-19 Pandemic Taraki provided online peer support for Punjabi men. Now, we have decommissioned that service because it has served its purpose. We will continue to help develop Punjabi men's peer support in-person around the country and world.
Below is a reflection from three of our key facilitators in our online peer support spaces for Punjabi men - thank you to them for their service, dedication and drive to positively impact Punjabi men's mental health.
Taimour:
In November 2019, I found myself walking into a peer support group for Punjabi men run by Taraki. Shuranjeet, the founder, had extended me an invite. I wasn’t sure what to expect.
At that point in my life – in my mid 20’s, I felt lonely and disconnected. I wasn’t sure where I belonged, or who I could really talk to. That first peer support session was a small moment, but it was enough to make me come back the following month. Then the week month. Before long, I was attending so often that the facilitators jokingly called me “part of the furniture.”
Looking back, I realise what kept me returning wasn’t just the space to talk — it was the feeling of being seen. South Asian and Punjabi men often grow up with messages that emotions are weaknesses, that vulnerability is dangerous, or that community only counts when it’s tied to achievement. These peer spaces challenged all of that. They reminded me I wasn’t alone, and that there were healthier ways of being a man.
Over the course of my involvement in the spaces, as a participant and facilitator, I can say that the spaces have meant so much to me and most of the time I was attending because I needed the space just as much as the attendees. 6 years is a long period to be involved in a project, life changes so much and the Taraki’s men’s spaces served as the safe regular space I could go to as a way to reflect and take a breather and for that I’ll always be grateful.
Kris:
I am writing this reflection with mixed emotions, but an overall sense of a positivity. I first joined Taraki Men’s Forum in the height of the pandemic in the online space. My reason to engage was twofold, primarily to connect with others in the community due to limited opportunities geographically, secondly was my passion for mental health and health inequalities,
I initially had a conversation with Shuranjeet whose enthusiasm and passion were quite inspiring. I decided to start with attending the forum as a participant writing a short blog each session.
The sessions were vibrant and rich with full sessions of discussion and debate filling the 90 minutes. The space was an opportunity not just for people within the UK to engage with but further afield globally. The online space provided a fantastic opportunity during a time that face to face opportunities were heavily restricted. It was also filling a gap in the community for the opportunity for men to meet and discuss mental health and issues effecting mental health. What made it fundamentally different than other men’s mental health spaces it was orientated and firmly based within the Punjabi culture. The nuance of including the cultural biases both historical and current that influence Punjabi men’s mental wellbeing was so refreshing to discuss in a safe environment.
After 6 months I moved into a facilitators role to support Taraki in delivering the online forums. This was a great opportunity to contribute to Taraki. Being a facilitator was a pleasure and a great learning experience. Working within an established team of facilitators made the role easy and fun. The rewards of the forums were seeing the engagement.
Over time as the pandemic drifted into the distance and with the roll out of the delivery of training local areas to deliver the forum model picked up pace, the forum slowly started becoming a little redundant. I don’t believe it was because it was no longer working just the success of the local delivery programme made it less relevant and necessary.
Like all good things it had to come to an end as numbers fell, and the uptake dropped. I don’t see this a failing of the forum, I believe it has become a victim of the success and rolling the model out, as well as people are doing less online and more in person again.
I will miss the Wednesday night forums not just for spending time with others within our community but also with my fellow facilitators. It’s been a great journey for me, and I have made some lovely connections as well as having a wonderful learning experience. I want to thank everyone who came to the forums, my fellow facilitators and Shuranjeet for giving me the opportunity in the first place to be part of Taraki.
I wish everyone well for the future.
Amardeep:
Six years ago, I became a peer facilitator for the Taraki men’s mental health forum in Birmingham. Things picked up early, participants got the hang of things and suggested a range of topics for forums. Before we knew it, we had outgrown two venues and had a loyal core of participants.
In February 2020 I was interviewed on the BBC Radio West Midlands breakfast programme about our work. I described Taraki as a ‘grassroots movement’, deep down I must have known how big and important the organisation would become. A few weeks later, the COVID 19 outbreak led to lockdown in the UK. Our venue would never reopen and it felt like the wind had come out of our sails.We deliberated about what to do next, we knew there was a need to continue the work we were doing, we just weren’t sure online facilitation would be safe. In the end, we developed a protocol and began working alongside our counterparts in London on Zoom.
Online facilitation was different, but it opened up possibilities.In the coming years, things grew in a different way. We once had a forum with people from three continents, it turned out men wanted to talk, even when they were in different time zones. In the intervening five years, we’ve done a lot online, while Taraki has grown immeasurably. Feedback has remained positive throughout but as the world has readjusted after Covid, attendance numbers have decreased.
Shuranjeet always said the ultimate aim was to reach a place where the support Taraki provided was no longer needed. The online men's forums have reached that destination. Men’s mental health remains a major issue in the Punjabi community and Taraki continue to work tirelessly to address it. It’s been humbling to see the organisation grow from a handful of enthusiastic volunteers in a couple of parts of England to a significant multinational operation with several offerings.
I’d like to thank our visionary founder Shuranjeet and the many fellow volunteers who have become comrades in this mission.
Onwards and Upwards
