Building Brighter Futures £7.5m funding awarded

Maudsley Charity has awarded £7.5m, our biggest single tranche of funding, to 11 projects involving approximately 50 organisations in Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Croydon through our Building Brighter Futures programme.

The programme supports delivery of the right care at the right time to young people facing emerging mental health difficulties by funding collaborations between trusted local organisations and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and Kings’ College London. Our approach is grounded in feedback from across the mental health sector that by working together organisations will be better able address complex problems, drawing on a range of thinking and sharing of expertise.

Meeting increasing need with innovative solutions

Building Brighter Futures focuses on children and young people aged 10-19 living in the most challenging circumstances and facing complex difficulties including deprivation, vulnerable family circumstances, racism and discrimination, neurodiversity or learning disabilities, and substance use. This focus emerged from evidence that 50% of mental health conditions are established during adolescence, and that there are clear inequalities in levels of mental illness, experiences, and treatment outcomes particularly for young people facing deprivation and racism.

The projects’ focus on addressing issues at the right time and delivering care in community settings aligns with the key aims of the government’s 10-year health plan for England. The organisations are delivering their services in youth clubs, community centres, GP practices and schools and are working not just with young people, but with their families. The approaches being used include building the confidence and capability of youth workers, mentoring young people, involving them in social action projects, supporting school attendance for those who are struggling, and engaging them in drama, music, and sport. The projects also include use of digital platforms to expand access to support.

A focus on collaboration and co-production

With collaboration as a key feature of the programme, Maudsley Charity helped applicants come together across the NHS, research, and community organisations. The charity held a series of connection workshops at the launch of the programme, co-facilitated by the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR). 191 people from 113 organisations attended and explored solutions and possible collaborations. Interested organisations then invested time over a 6-month period to form partnerships and develop proposals in consultation with young people and their families, supported by a grant from the charity. Young people were also involved in the charity’s selection of the final awarded projects through a group of Young Advisors convened by Leaders Unlocked.

The successful partnerships will deliver their projects over the next 3 to 4 years and are set to make a significant and lasting impact across south London by establishing better connections across the mental healthcare system, supporting appropriate access to mental health services; and exploring innovative approaches to mental health support to address intense and growing demand from young people who may currently be missed by the system.

Find out more, including partner organisations and project aims for the successfully funded projects.