Community is what mattered in 2025
This is how you helped The Source make an impact
Good morning, evening or afternoon,
Thank you for supporting The Source this year. You have truly helped us make a real impact.
The Source is on a mission to shed a light on the Black community in the UK with a heavy emphasis on community. Through independent journalism by contributing Black journalists along with your support this year - we have done just that.
Among the many stories we told in 2025, several of them focused on charity work within the community and crucial fundraisers such as a GoFundMe for Tharel Thompson who miraculously survived after he was stabbed in the head by a British Army soldier in an unprovoked attack while on holiday from Barbados.
After reading his story, many of you were moved by his determination to walk again which led to a number of you donating towards his fundraiser. It was truly incredible to see The Source readers come together as a collective to help Tharel, and through your contribution, he was able to secure the vital surgery needed on his road to recovery. Although he still has a long path ahead as he requires more funds to pay towards his staggering medical costs, his family remains grateful for your help. If you would like to give towards Tharel’s GoFundMe, you still can by clicking here.
This year, The Source also published exclusive stories on several Black-focused initiatives creating positive and tangible change in the Black community. One of the first stories from The Source was about a Black ballet company, Ballet Black which launched a fundraiser to renovate a church for their classes after losing their old venue. The company later reached their £50,000 goal, so I want to give a big thank you to those of you who donated and helped them achieve their target. As well as Ballet Black, The Source covered journalist Greg Mckenzie’s story on his clothing line that keeps ex-offenders out of prison, as well as journalist Ayo Oluwalana’s piece on a couple raising awareness about the need for more Black adoption, Arike Idris’s story on the dodgeball event disrupting the scene, and my own on a man who ran the marathon to raise awareness for lupus after his sister died from the disease. But equally, we also reported on the challenges Black community organisers and Black businesses face. The Source’s story by journalist Arike Idris on the popular Caribbean restaurant Juss Jerk which was forced to demolish its Jamaican canopy garnered widespread attention and brought awareness about the lack of support for those making a difference in the community.
But among many of the stories we told this year, I was saddened to break the tragic news of 19-year-old Marcus Fakana’s death. After being jailed over a holiday romance in Dubai and then later being freed - the news of his passing three months after his release from prison was utterly devastating. As a journalist, I am driven by a strong desire to inform the public, but with Marcus Fakana’s story, it was perhaps one that I wish I didn’t have to tell this year. May he rest in peace.
The year 2025 also saw the devastation of Hurricane Melissa which ripped through the Caribbean. I wrote for The Source about British Jamaicans who raised £20,000 in 24hours for grassroots initiatives. After initially posting about the fundraiser on Twitter, this caused quite a bit of controversy which resulted in getting publicly bashed online and being labelled anything but a child of God. I understand that there is distrust and caution when it comes to fundraisers in the wake of any disaster, but that is why my job is to verify information and why journalism matters. But as a Black female journalist, editor and founder, the world doesn’t think twice about disrespecting, overlooking or undermining you despite your accomplishments or what the facts say. It was pretty tough going through the online pile-on which did bring me to tears at one point. I’ve had a lot of that this year both on the internet and in real life, and this was just the straw that broke the camels back. But when it comes to social media - misinformation and bullying is what you can expect, but the role of good journalists is more important than ever and so is community. And so, I was touched to have support from my online friends and others who came to my defence or dropped me a message while I faced an onslaught of abuse. I appreciate you. But despite all of this, the fact remains that Caribbean islands affected by the hurricane still need our help and The Source will continue to highlight their journey in 2026. No amount of social media intimidation can get in the way of that.
The Windrush scandal was also a huge focus for The Source this year. From Twitter Spaces to news stories, The Source continued to expose the racist injustice and the failure of the compensation scheme which is grossly underreported on in comparison to other scandals. The Source will continue to report on this citizenship scandal in 2026 until real change comes. We’re not letting off steam.
For Black History Month this year, The Source exclusively reported on the story of a Nigerian woman who is related to Queen Victoria’s goddaughter Sarah Forbes Bonetta (whose real name was Aina). This is a story you wouldn’t have read anywhere else and is one that truly shows the importance of Black-led media. When I think of the fact that Black British history has always been excluded from Britain’s history - having a platform to tell these stories gives us the power to do so, no permission needed. But I am not alone in pursuing this agenda and it goes without saying that there are many who are doing their part to make sure that children and adults have access to Black history, and we need to hear more about the fantastic work they do. That is why journalist Serena Richards spoke to Patrick Adom who created an African and Caribbean themed puzzle business Very Puzzled which teaches children about Black history. The entrepreneur shared his journey with The Source on how he is educating the youth and creating generational wealth for his family. An incredibly inspiring piece.
This year, The Source launched Unfiltered Conversations between Black Women which featured author Nova Reid as well as journalist Serena Richards. You’ll be seeing more of that next year too so look out for updates.
From reading The Source’s weekly recap, The 20, you’ll be aware of the true extent of the violence and hatred that has been unleashed on ethnic minorities in the UK. Racism has fully been mainstreamed in our politics and has been emboldened more than ever. But when I look back on it all, I am reminded of the importance of community and how standing together and helping one another is what will ultimately make a difference when pushing back against these attacks and setbacks. Whether that is through entrepreneurship that creates opportunity, fundraising, charity or journalism that informs, amplifies and holds power to account - I believe that building community gives us hope.
With that being said, I want to say thank you to those who have believed in The Source and continue to support this work. I want to thank those who have trusted us with their stories and the incredible Black journalists Arike Idris, Ayo Oluwalana and Serena Richards who have given their time and energy to bring you news from the Black community that matters. Without you, The Source would not be what it is. Thank you to over 1000 of you who continue to open these emails every week, who share our stories, who drop us a like or a comment - you help us grow and we appreciate you.
I wish you all a harmonious end to the year and for us to make an even louder and greater impact as a community in 2026!
If you would like to help The Source go further, do consider joining others and becoming a paid subscriber supporting this work.