SACMHA (Sheffield African Caribbean Mental Health Association), England

Gambinga is the Race Equity Officer at Sheffield African Caribbean Mental Health Association (SACMHA). SACMHA is a charity that was set up in 1988 in response to the mental health needs of people of African or Caribbean descent.

Within his role, Gambinga focuses on supporting and coproducing with patients, staff, and people with lived experience, both in terms of those affected by restrictive practice and those impacted by self-harm and suicidal ideation.

As someone who has lived with bipolar, depression and is a former service user, Gambinga’s lived experience gives him insight into the people he works with. His experiences help him to treat everyone with respect and dignity, and he is proud that he treats people “as human beings; not a diagnosis, condition or situation.”

Gambinga is also a qualified nurse and has worked in mental health hospitals, which helps him to do his job in a professional yet compassionate manner.

A large part of Gambinga’s role is building trust with others within mental health settings and within the community. He has led on several projects to support this work, including the collection of qualitative data post restrictive practice incidents which he has started thematically analysing.
Gambinga is keen to disseminate his findings from the various work he has undertaken, including sharing work through conferences. He is also trying to set up a network of Race Equity Officers and similar roles to share practice and learning.