Be Well Spotlight: Ndukauba CIC & Headlinerz Barbershop Ltd
In conversation with Jesse Ashiegbu, Founder of Headlinerz Barbershop & Ndukauba CIC
Jesse is one of south London’s Be Well champions based in Greenwich. On a mission to support men’s physical and mental health, particularly those of African, Caribbean, Asian and mixed heritage. Jesse runs Jollof Nights sessions across four barbershops in Greenwich with Headlinerz Barbershop being the birthplace of Jollof Nights. Jesse funded Jollof nights from his pocket from 2021-2024 until it caught the attention of the local authorities. From late 2024 These sessions started attracting funding from the likes of Royal Borough of Greenwich, CNT Associates, start up Greenwich, Groundwork London, local NHS partners, and the Be Well micro-grant. The project provides a comfortable environment for men to talk about their mental health, fatherhood, and other issues while bonding over tasty plate of Jollof Rice.
Jesse is a health designer and creator. He is also working on other projects that will soon be rolled out by Ndukauba CIC. Projects such as the Jollof Nights Connect™ app, a scalable, culturally grounded digital platform that supports early intervention, health engagement, and co-production with communities who experience health inequalities.
We sat down with Jesse to discuss the success of his programmes, what motivates him to help his community, and how Be Well has supported him.
Interview with Jesse
Q: What inspired you to set up your project and what have you learned?
Jesse: My experience as someone who once contemplated suicide as a young boy, coupled with daily conversations with men and boys in the barbershop, shaped the foundation of Jollof Nights™ and the wider work we do at Headlinerz Barbershop and Ndukauba Ltd. I have lived the silence many men carry, and I’ve seen that same silence echoed in the clients I serve.
When I opened Headlinerz Barbershop in 2018, it was with a clear mission: “bringing back the community”, and by community, I mean a true one, a network that looks after itself and its members, not a performative or tokenistic version. Through that lens, the barbershop became more than a business; it became a safe, trusted, and culturally grounded space for healing, brotherhood, and transformation.
What I’ve learned is that the most impactful health interventions often don’t start in clinics – they start in trusted spaces, rooted in real relationships. Barbershops can become frontline sites for early mental health engagement, provided they are equipped, respected, and supported.
Q: What support have you received from Be Well and what difference has it made?
Jesse: Be Well’s support has significantly amplified and validated the community-rooted work we’ve been building for years through Jollof Nights. Their platform gave us visibility beyond the grassroots, helping position our work as a vital component of the borough’s wellbeing ecosystem. By showcasing the Jollof Nights model, Be Well helped us gain wider recognition, and establish credibility with institutional partners, and move from being seen as a promising initiative, to being acknowledged as a strategic contributor to public health and community cohesion.
Getting involved in Be Well activities introduced me to key system leaders such as Sir Richard Douglas and opened pathways for meaningful dialogue and influence. Through these interactions, our voice is now part of the broader conversation shaping policy and practice around community health.
This visibility has been made possible in large part thanks to the South London Listens team, whose consistent communication and invitations to key community engagements have allowed me to connect with other stakeholders across health and community sectors. Their efforts have not only opened doors but also reassured participants that their lived experiences matter and we are being heard at a system-wide level.
The team have also played a pivotal mentoring role, especially in the development of our Jollof Nights Facilitation Training for barbers and trusted community leaders. With support from the South London Listens mental health trainer we now have a robust training programme ready for rollout across new settings, helping scale the model with fidelity and cultural relevance.
Be Well’s endorsement brought both institutional trust and renewed community confidence, two critical ingredients in the growth and sustainability of our work.
Q: What support have you had from other services across south London and what difference has it made?
Jesse: Oxleas NHS has been a meaningful partner. Their engagement went beyond words—they attended sessions, asked questions, and showed genuine interest in co-producing outcomes. One major breakthrough was confirmation of direct referral pathways. This means that participants from Jollof Nights™ can self-refer into ‘Greenwich Time to Talk’ without needing a GP letter or formal referral and Greenwich time to talk can also reduce their waiting list by referring people to Jollof Nights sessions rather than risking escalations. That change alone removed a major barrier to mental health access for many of our men.
The Public Health team at Royal Greenwich has also supported us through funding, endorsement, and engagement. Through the Healthier Communities Fund, we’ve been able to expand Jollof Nights™ into 4 barbershops and introduce new layers of health engagement including:
- Free blood pressure checks
- Prostate and diabetes awareness
- Culturally grounded health education
- Non-clinical referral pathways
Their backing helped move our model from an idea into an operational, scalable intervention. It also showed that public health can be local, culturally tailored, and community-led without compromising impact or accountability.
Q: What are your future plans?
Jesse: Our next phase involves scaling and sustaining Jollof Nights™ across south east London and beyond. This includes:
- Licensing the model to other boroughs and organisations
- Piloting Jollof Nights™ in football clubs, universities, and churches
- Expanding our digital infrastructure through the Jollof Nights Connect™ app
- Training peer facilitators and barbers to deliver health engagement at scale
- Publishing a wellbeing toolkit and policy paper to influence commissioning
Q: Where are you based in Greenwich and do you take referrals from across the borough? Are you expanding, and if so, which areas?
Jesse: Headlinerz Barbershop and Ndukauba CIC is based in East Greenwich ,151 Trafalgar Road (SE10 9TX), and we proudly serve as the founding base for the Jollof Nights™ model. While our roots are firmly in Greenwich, we welcome participants from across the entire borough and beyond, especially African, Caribbean, Asian, and mixed heritage men who feel disconnected from traditional health pathways.
Through support from the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Groundwork London, and local NHS partners, we have expanded the Jollof Nights™ model to five barbershops across Greenwich as part of a borough-wide pilot. These include sites in:
- Woolwich Arsenal ward
- Plumstead & Glyndon ward
- Greenwich Park ward
We are also in early conversations to expand into neighbouring boroughs, including Lewisham, Bexley, Bromley, Lambeth, and Southwark, through a combination of licensing, local partnerships, and community-led training.
Our goal is to embed culturally safe and trusted spaces in every corner of South East London ICB boroughs where men can access informal support, peer-led health education, and early intervention without stigma.
We also asked Taf Tafadzwa Marapara, Lead for PCREF and Service User Health Inequalities from Oxleas Trust who has been working closely with Jesse to comment.
“I have had the privilege of attending the Thursday night Jollof Nights sessions hosted by Jesse Ashiegbu at Headlinerz Barbershop, a collaboration with Oxleas NHS focused on improving both physical and mental health for men. The sessions were truly impressive — so much so that none of us wanted them to end. This was a clear testament to how valued and engaged everyone felt throughout the evening.
This initiative is much more than just providing food and company; it creates a culturally safe space where men, particularly those experiencing loneliness or isolation, can come together, share their experiences, and access support in an environment that respects their identities and realities. The partnership between Headlinerz and Oxleas NHS effectively bridges the gap between community and healthcare services, making health support more accessible and approachable.
Jollof Nights is not only a fantastic initiative for mental health and wellbeing but also a powerful example of how grassroots community efforts can work alongside statutory services to make a real difference.”
About Be Well
Be Well organisations are safe spaces located within community organisations for people to turn to when they feel their mental health is low or they feel isolated. They have three key functions:
- Build relationships and provide a place for community members to talk to one another – developing activities and practices that seek to increase social connection, reduce social isolation, and improve wellbeing.
- Offer practical support and signposting where needed.
- Take action with the wider community to act on structural and systemic inequalities and injustices that impact their mental health.
About Be Well micro-grants
Be Well micro-grants programme provides up to £800 for individual recipients or £2,000 for those collaborating with other community grants to support community-led health and wellbeing projects.
Find out more about becoming a Be Well champion here: Be Well Champions — South London Listens.