We Are Here Scotland

Well-Founded

Society EN ↓ 6 episodes

In Scotland's creative scene, there's a crucial gap: spaces owned by and designed for Black and Global Majority creatives. Join host Ica Headlam as he explores inspiring Black and Global Majority-led venues and cultural centres from the UK to international destinations. Each episode uncovers the stories behind these spaces—the vision, the struggle, and the profound impact on wellbeing and artistic expression. We'll meet fearless founders breaking barriers, discover innovative funding models, and explore how creative spaces become lifelines for community and mental health. AND, what it could lo...

Author

We Are Here Scotland

Episodes

Scottish BPOC Writers Network & Project X 31.12.2025 36:56

Host Ica Headlam speaks with sisters Rhea Lewis (Project X Dance) and Jeda Pearl (Scottish Black and POC Writers Network) about supporting Black and POC artists in Scotland. They chat about growing up in a creative household in Edinburgh, how 2020 completely shifted their approach towards artist development and care, and the ongoing challenges of exploitation and tokenisation in the creative indus...

Black Psychotherapy 20.11.2025 32:05

Host Ica Headlam speaks with Kim Loliya, founder and director of Black Psychotherapy in London, about culturally attuned mental health support for Black and Global Majority communities. Kim discusses how they've grown from a solo practice to a team of 31 practitioners, the problems with Eurocentric therapy models, and why mainstream NHS provision often fails racialised communities. The conversatio...

Pass the Mic 31.07.2025 37:04

Host Ica Headlam speaks with Talat Yaqoob, founder of Pass the Mic, about the gap between Scotland's progressive rhetoric and actual investment in change for communities of colour. They discuss creating your own spaces versus engaging with existing systems, the extractive nature of unpaid labour in media and activism, and how austerity has decimated the community centres and youth clubs that once...

Creative Balance 18.06.2025 41:03

In this episode, host Ica speaks with Matthew Hickman (musician/artist-activist) and Loa Pour Mirza (therapist/facilitator) about the Creative Balance project, which researches wellbeing among Black and racialised creatives and cultural professionals in Scotland. They discuss how five years after 2020's promises of change, many artists still face systemic barriers, lack of representation in leader...

Foundations 10.06.2025 21:44

In our first episode, we lay the foundations by exploring the reality of being BPOC creatives in Scotland's creative spaces and what people want. Recorded live at We Are Here Scotland's Creator Showcase at Edinburgh's Assembly Roxy, host Ica Headlam speaks with employment lawyer and radio presenter Rupa Mooker about navigating predominantly white creative spaces, the exhaustion of being "the only...

INTRODUCING: Well-founded 22.05.2025 1:13

Introducing Well-founded, a new podcast from We Are Here Scotland exploring spaces that nurture creativity, support mental health, and foster community for Black and Global Majority creatives. Host Ica Headlam examines what's missing from Scotland's creative landscape and celebrates the spaces—both physical and digital—that are making a difference. What to Expect: Stories from Black-led venues and...