MAC-UK is reimagining mental health by transforming the systems that shape it—alongside young people, not on their behalf.
Based in London, MAC-UK works with young people who are navigating not just mental health challenges, but the intersecting harms of racism, marginalization, and systemic failure. Their approach is grounded in the belief that mental health cannot be separated from context, and that true healing must involve structural change.
For over 15 years, MAC-UK has partnered with young people to co-create services, policies, and practices that center lived experience. Their work spans housing, violence prevention, and mental health, all while confronting the deep inequities embedded in statutory systems. They’re not trying to work around broken systems; they’re building alternatives rooted in care, justice, and shared power.
That work is expansive and demanding. The team is committed to going slow, embedding disability justice, and refusing to leave anyone behind. But the reality is that it takes a toll to do systems change while being impacted by the very harms you’re trying to transform. Staff face burnout, vicarious trauma, racism, and the emotional weight of global crises and personal grief—all while trying to hold space for others.
This is what drew MAC-UK to the Lumos program: A chance to build internal sustainability, not just for individuals, but for the collective. They’re looking for more than tools. They want practices that can be embedded and shared, a culture that supports healing and liberation, and a network of peers to learn and grow alongside.
“We need resources to do systems change, and that includes dealing with our own harm and reducing harm to others.”
For MAC-UK, participating in the Lumos capacity-building program isn’t a side project. It’s core to how systems transformation becomes real and durable. It’s how staff stay resourced, connected, and able to do the long, slow work of justice.
We’re proud to be in partnership with MAC-UK as they continue to challenge harm, redistribute power, and model a future where healing is collective and liberation is for everyone.
