Derman

What Derman does

Derman is a registered charity (Charity No. 1054792) and company limited by guarantee (Company No. 2910220) founded in 1991 in Hackney, London, by members of the Turkish, Turkish Cypriot, and Kurdish communities in partnership with local GPs and the health authority. The organization provides free health and social care services to Kurdish and Turkish-speaking communities in London, irrespective of political, ethnic, or religious background. Its core service lines are Mental Health Services (counselling, psychotherapy, IAPT Talking Therapies, the Wellbeing Network, gambling counselling, and mental health recovery support), Health Advocacy (78 hours per week of interpreting and advocacy sessions across 12 GP surgeries), Welfare Advice on social and welfare rights, and a portfolio of Group Activities including women's self-esteem, anxiety and depression self-help, handcraft, walk-and-talk, and film discussion groups. Service delivery channels include face-to-face sessions at its 1st Floor, 66 New North Road office, telephone support, and Zoom video sessions.

The business model is that of a community-led charity rather than a commercial enterprise: all services are provided free of charge to service users, and operating costs are funded through voluntary donations and charitable grants, with a PayPal donation link visible on the website. The go-to-market motion is community-led, relying on referrals from 12 partner GP surgeries, community outreach, and word-of-mouth within the served communities, supplemented by a modest organic social media presence on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram. Derman holds the Trusted Charity Mark Level 1 and the Advice Services Alliance Quality Standard, and publishes annual reports dating back to 2010-11, most recently for the 2024-25 financial year. There is no proprietary technology product, no mobile application, and no disclosed AI or data platform underlying operations; the core 'platform' is the trust, cultural competence, and bilingual staffing that has accumulated since founding.

Name

Derman

Legal name

Derman

Website

https://derman.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations and Voluntary Funding: Derman is a registered charity (Charity No. 1054792) funded primarily through voluntary donations and charitable funding. Services are provided completely free of charge to all service users, regardless of their political, ethnic, or religious backgrounds. The organization operates as a company limited by guarantee (Company No. 2910220).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Derman is a registered charity that provides free mental health services (counselling, psychotherapy, and recovery support), health advocacy and interpreting services at 12 London GP surgeries, welfare rights advice, and community support groups to Kurdish and Turkish-speaking communities in London. All services are delivered in Turkish, Kurmanji, and English, on a face-to-face, telephone, or video (Zoom) basis, and are provided completely free of charge regardless of political, ethnic, or religious background.

Product overview

Derman is a charity organization (registered charity and company limited by guarantee) that provides a holistic range of health and social welfare services at no cost to Kurdish and Turkish speaking communities in London. The organization operates as a multi-service provider rather than a technology product company. Its core services include Mental Health Services (encompassing counselling, psychotherapy, and mental health recovery support), Health Advocacy Services (providing interpreting and advocacy within GP surgeries), Welfare Advice Services, and various Group Activities and Support Groups. All services are offered face-to-face, by telephone, or via Zoom, working collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary team to address the different issues faced by the communities served.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mental Health Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 2500+ clients served
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Local GPs and Health AuthoritycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1991Derman was established in 1991 by members of the Turkish, Turkish Cypriot and Kurdish communities in partnership with local GPs and the health authority. This foundational partnership enabled the development of culturally appropriate health services for the community.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Others

• Locality (UK): National membership body supporting community-led organisations and charities in England. Adjacent peer — Derman is the kind of grassroots, community-rooted charity Locality's network supports, useful as a sectoral comparator rather than a direct service competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Hestia: London-based charity providing mental health, domestic abuse and welfare support including for migrants and refugees. Comparable in combining advocacy, advice and psychosocial support for vulnerable adults in London.
• Rethink Mental Illness: National mental health charity delivering services, advocacy and support groups across the UK. Comparable as a peer charity in the mental health advice and advocacy space, though Derman differs by being ethnicity and language specific.
• Mind (National Association for Mental Health): The UK's leading mental health charity operating nationwide through a federation of local Minds. Broad incumbent providing counselling, information and advocacy at scale, against which Derman competes as a culturally specialist alternative for Turkish/Kurdish service users.
• Refugee Council: Major UK charity supporting asylum seekers and refugees with advice, integration and mental health services. Overlaps with Derman in serving refugee populations with multilingual support and welfare guidance, but at national scale.

Direct peers

• Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (IKWRO): UK-based charity serving Kurdish (and Iranian) communities in London, providing culturally specialist advice, advocacy and counselling. Closest direct peer given shared Kurdish/ diaspora community focus, advocacy orientation and bilingual service delivery.
• Chinese Community Wellbeing Society: Charity providing culturally and linguistically appropriate health, welfare and mental health support to the Chinese community in the UK. Mirror analogue to Derman's role for Turkish/Kurdish communities — same niche model applied to a different diaspora.
• Black, African and Asian Therapy Network (BAATN): UK charity focused on culturally appropriate psychotherapy and counselling for Black, African and Asian communities. Direct peer in the ethnically-matched mental health counselling space, complementing Derman's Turkish/Kurdish specialism.
• The Advocacy Project: London charity providing independent advocacy (including health and social care advocacy) for adults facing disadvantage, including people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. Direct operational analogue in health advocacy service design.

Regional players

• Mind in Hackney (City and Hackney Mind): Local Mind affiliate serving residents of Hackney and the City of London with mental health services, advocacy and groups. Regional peer operating in Derman's exact geography and serving overlapping needs, sometimes in partnership rather than competition.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dermanwellbeing
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• Instagraminstagram.com/dermanwellbeing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Derman