A young Black woman in a wheelchair talking to a young Black man on a bench in the park. The woman is laughing while the man explains something.

Elevating Queer Disabled experiences

A young Black woman in a wheelchair and an older Black woman sitting on a bench in the park. They are laughing together.

About this project

Both public data and insight from young people tells us that Disabled young people are more disproportionately affected by mental health struggles. Additionally, for Queer Disabled young people, homophobia and transphobia will make their experience of mental health far more complex.
This project is about us passing the mic to Queer Disabled creators to create authentic content that will be posted on our social media channels and website, to support Queer Disabled young people with their mental health.
Download a shortened, plain-text summary of this project

Who are we looking for?

  • We are looking to commission up to five Queer Disabled content creators or artists.

    You'll produce social-first content that shares your stories and experiences under the theme 'Celebrate what makes you, YOU.'
    To apply, you must be aged between 18 and 27 and live in the UK.

What type of content are we looking for?

The theme for this content is: 'Celebrate what makes you, YOU'.

We chose this theme to reflect young people’s desire to make space for joy and to authentically represent their experiences. Anything you create could reflect on your own mental health journey, joy and celebration, identity or anything you think would help Queer Disabled young people feel supported with their mental health.

Although the theme focuses on celebration, we know it’s also important for Queer Disabled young people to hear about what people are going through, and that includes the downs as well as the ups. So, you may also want to share the more difficult kinds of experiences, challenges, and honest stories that you are comfortable sharing.

Take a look below for more information on the type of content we're looking for.

While this project is aimed towards the young Queer Disabled community, we want to be clear that the content you create can speak to all aspects of your identity. Whether that’s your culture, religion, interests, class, or hobbies, as well as your sexuality, gender identity and disability. We want you to know that all aspects of your identity can and should be celebrated.

We know we will never speak to every unique and complex experience, but the content you create should help Queer Disabled young people relate to your experiences and provide them with a sense of hope.

We're looking for content that is honest and authentic, sharing the fluctuating nature of being Queer and Disabled, showing the highs and lows, impact on mental health (the good, the bad and the in between), and that no one day or experience is always the same.

Here are some ‘thought starters’ for content you could create:

This is not a prescriptive list but is simply a mix of ideas that might give you some inspiration.
Your content style might not be reflected here, and that’s completely ok. We would still love to hear your ideas.

Here's what Disabled young people have told us they want to see:

Authentic representation of real-life experiences from Disabled young individuals is really important.

When I was younger, and sometimes now I always kind of feel like I’m by myself [...] Show me [...] there’s other people like you going through the same thing. I feel like that’s very, very important.

Young people want to see content that acknowledges the intricate identities of Disabled folk, and stories of how people identify and relate to the different parts of their identities.

So I am a Black, working class, trans masc, non-binary artist. I also have borderline personality disorder and I’m awaiting an autism diagnosis [...] I’m a northerner as well, I’m very proud of that [...] and I identify as chaotic good.

This community wants others to understand the dynamic nature of disabilities and how it can vary day to day, and no experience is the same.

My disability gets better, well more manageable, and then it gets less manageable and that ebbs and flows. It’s not a constant state. I think that’s a narrative that’s missing in the media.

How to apply

To apply, please send us a short proposal with the following information:
  • Your preferred name
  • Your age
  • A bit about you
  • An idea for a piece/s of content or art you can create that responds to the themes we've highlighted
  • Explain why you chose this idea
  • If possible, provide an example of a similar piece of content you’ve created in the past
  • Your social media handles
  • Roughly how long this piece of content or art will take for you to deliver
  • Your fee (this can be discussed at a later stage if you prefer)

You can send this to us in the following formats:

  • Word document or equivalent
  • PowerPoint or equivalent
  • A voice note or video
The application deadline is 11.59pm on the 13 October 2024. 
Please do let us know if you'd like to apply but feel that you'll need a slight extension, factoring in your health.
Email your proposal and/or questions to Yasin, the Senior Digital Inclusive Content Officer at: yasin.hassan@youngminds.org.uk.
We will review all proposals and are aiming to get back to all applicants by the end of October. It’s unlikely that we will be able to take every application forward due to our resources and capacity.
We’re really looking forward to receiving your proposal and potentially working with you on this project!

Who can apply?

Below we have outlined some important information about eligibility criteria for this project. Please read this carefully.

  • You must be aged between 18 and 27 and live in the UK.
  • You don't need to have a big following, but will need to show that you're able to deliver social-first content.
  • We welcome interest from creators of all backgrounds but are especially interested in hearing from Black and Asian creators or artists, whose stories are underrepresented.
  • All commissioned artists and content creators are responsible for paying their own tax and National Insurance contributions.
  • We’re hoping to receive your content between January and March 2025.
A young Black woman sitting on a bench in the park.

Accessibility support

We want to be as accommodating as possible throughout this entire process. If you have any accessibility requirements, please do not hesitate to share those with us, and we will address them as soon as we can.
If you require this page in another format or language, just let us know and we will get that sent over to you as soon as possible.  
Whatever you need, our team are on hand to support you throughout this entire project. If you have any questions, please email Yasin, the Senior Digital Inclusive Content Officer at: yasin.hassan@youngminds.org.uk

Our recent project with Black Disabled creators and artists

We recently passed the mic to 12 amazing young Black Disabled creators and artists. We wanted to celebrate their stories, platform their experiences and support Black Disabled young people across the UK with their mental health. 
But we want to build on this. This project is part of our ongoing commitment to deliver content that supports Disabled young people. 
See the content created by Black Disabled artists
A Black teenage boy wearing a hearing aid bumping fists with a young Black man in the park.

FAQs

Yes, this work will be paid. Deliverables and fees will be discussed as part of the contracting for this work. All commissioned artists and content creators are responsible for paying their own tax and National Insurance contributions through self-assessment.

Applications are open to individuals aged between 18 and 27 years old. The content you create will be used to serve young people between 11 and 25.

Yes, absolutely. What matters most to us isn’t the size of your social media following, but if you’re able to create content that responds to the themes we’ve outlined on this page.
We also feel strongly that all creators and artists, especially those from racialised communities must be paid fairly for their work. To do this, we have base fees that we use for digital content commissions. This means we are still able to pay less established creators a fair fee for their work and time. For established creators (over 10k followers on your main social media account), we do offer a small additional supplement fee.

We are aiming to get back to everyone by the end of October. Further contracting discussions will then take place from January 2025.

We are hoping to go live on our channels with the content from February 2025. So, we’d ideally receive final versions of content between January 2025 and March 2025. However, the deadline is something we are more than happy to discuss with you. It’s important to us that you feel comfortable with the timelines.

Yes, we’re only able to work with UK-based content creators for this project.

Yes we have. Throughout 2024, we worked closely with a group of 12 Black Disabled creators and artists. Take a look at their content.

We are looking to go live with the content on our channels from February – April 2025, but we’ll continue to post pieces of content throughout the year.

We know from our conversations with Disabled young people that not everyone with a disability identifies as Disabled. This might be because of the stigma that’s sometimes felt around the Disabled label. It may also be due to the disability being invisible or not commonly discussed. For example, neurodivergent people, or those living with a pain condition may not identify as Disabled. However you want to identify is up to you.
But, if you’re unsure whether your condition or illness is classified as a disability, check out our list below on the different types of disabilities.
  • Visible differences
  • Physical disabilities
  • Blind/visual impairments
  • Deaf or hard of hearing
  • Neurodivergent 
  • Hidden/chronic disabilities
  • Learning disabilities 
  • Speech and language conditions