What do we mean by ‘the percenTers.’?
Humanity cannot be reduced to a number. You are a human. So are we.
You are the percent, you are a ‘Percenter’.
We are a collection of percents, a collection of humanity supporting each other.
What about the logo?
Glad you asked.
The fraction line displays polarisation, proportionality, parallels and symmetry. Balance.
Not just to your neighbours, but to yourself.
The string connects us. It flows through all, our neighbour and self.
The full stop, the mark. It is the unspoken, it is unseen and it is an anomaly. The beginning to an end, the end to a beginning. It rests outside. It doesn’t fit the trend.
The box is safer than nuance, the illusion of safety through predictability constructed via assumption.
The design is messy. Child-like authenticity shines through. A reminder to stay true to you, despite constraints.
Finally, arrows mark direction. The box, naturally cyclical, moulded to have edges.
SO why are we a thing?
The Percenters. began as a response to the silent mental health and wellbeing crisis in young adults.
Loneliness, burnout, and disconnection are quiet themes that many young adults feel after years of pressure, isolation, and instability.
Post-COVID, this generation found themselves caught between a data-driven society that measures worth in numbers and a mental health system stretched too thin to hold the nuances of human experience.
Therefore, The Percenters. was born. Jake Evans founded The Percenters. to create prosperity from his lived experience of mental health challenges. He believes that every young adult deserves support, a safe space and time to what we cannot see.
He faced adversity, illness, and recovery throughout adolescence and early adult life. Yet the spaces to connect and support each other were not available due to the impact of the cost-of-living crises.
The Percenters. grew is a community-led movement for young adults (ages 18–26), providing stigma-free mental health spaces, wellbeing walks, psychoeducation groups and more.
It’s a bottom-up approach to wellbeing, designed by young people, for young people. We are grounded in empathy, inclusion, and genuine community.
THE origin story.
Aka the sob story. I am not quite batman, apologies.
At 13, I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, and anxiety without explanation. I was offered only pills and question marks. My journey of self-reliance began here; it had to. Either I drown or I take it on myself. I researched, watched, listened, and reflected on my life, psychology, and philosophy. This became my only form of protection, preservation, and understanding. Long story short, no one should have to do this alone.
I was learning how to exist, not live. There were no answers or support. Where is community for the misunderstood? And what is misunderstood? Mental health and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so naturally was I. Most gut-wrenchingly, I was not only misunderstood by others but also by myself.
Then at 14, I ruptured my ACL and cartilage but my symptoms were not believed. Years of persistence meant my case was reviewed, which said exactly this. It was only when I could no longer walk that action came. Too little too late, now I have a lifetime of chronic pain, surgeries and plummeted mental health.
The world went on without me. My time and path were evaporating, I used all my energy to keep my head above the water. At most, I managed a muted gasp. I was back fighting the current again. My head appeared static whilst gasping, despite my body fighting for every breath. Others were strolling along the coast, building their own bridges, laying their beds and dancing in front of me. Maybe they thought I was out for a swim.
Over time, I continuously learnt more, reflected, and grew, however this was never linear. I could grasp onto the bridge just often enough before the anchor reeled me back in. I was still on the boat when it set sail, yet continuously tugged overboard, with the mission to climb back up and craft my own sail from scraps when given a moment onboard. The mission of others was to set their own sails.
My life went on like this for years (apologies for the long-winded metaphor). Constant setbacks, health issues, mental health issues resulting in suicidal ideation, social isolation and withdrawal.
At university, even as my health declined again, I pushed on, completing my final year entirely online and graduating with First-Class Honours in Psychology. That experience taught me how much strength lives in silent perseverance, and how often we only survive because someone, somewhere, believes in us - even if that is only a part of ourselves.
When I looked around after graduating, I saw countless young adults struggling in silence, feeling unseen, disconnected, or left behind by a system that speaks in percentages, not people. And I realised: the same empathy and creativity that got me through those years could be built into something bigger.
That’s how The Percenters. was born. A reminder that we’re not statistics, and that each percent, each person, matters.
The visible percents were the tip of my icebergs. They were the moments my head was or was not above the water. They were my place on the boat, not the anchor pulling me back down. It was the size of my sail. Just think of the number of people stuck in the current that could be saved by a simple outstretched hand?
No statistic, research paper, diagnosis, or study could be generalised to predict me. We are so zoomed in that we forget the person, we forget humanity. So why not lend a platform for others to pull themselves up or fall on?
The Percenters. is my way of turning everything I went through into something that pays forward. If I could make meaning out of what felt meaningless, then maybe others can too, together, one percent at a time.