The people we serve
We listen to and learn from children and young people, work with them to build better solutions, and amplify their voices to aid better understanding of mental health conditions.
We work with those who bring up children and young people or work directly with them, from parents to foster carers, teachers, social workers and mental health professionals – those who know children and young people; designing approaches around the needs of young people then scaling them up; empowering the parents, carers and millions of professionals working with children and learning from them.
If we can deliver this across three fronts, we can transform the mental health of this and the next generation – creating a more compassionate society for everyone.
Facts
- Before the coronavirus pandemic, one in eight children aged between 5 and 19 has at least one diagnosable mental health problem. During the pandemic, one in six had a probable mental health problem.
- About one quarter of children with a diagnosable mental health problem had no contact with either professional services or informal support in relation to worries about mental health.
- Around 60% of children in care are reported to have an emotional or health problem.
- Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or with another sexual identity are more likely to have a mental health problem (35%) than those who identify as heterosexual (13%).
The only way to resolve these issues is by doing things differently.
Our approach
We believe that by working in collaboration with communities and professionals, together we can scale up our support for millions of infants, children and young people and their families. We can do this through:
- research which advances our understanding of the mental health of children and young people
- evidence which advances the frontiers of clinical knowledge, which we turn into better treatments and interventions
- solutions which support everyone who cares for or works directly with children and young people
- training which helps to nurture the next generation of mental health practitioners and researchers, empowers education professionals, and parents and carers.
- partnerships which unite people, professionals and policymakers with one goal: unlock a better future of our children and young people.
- Collaboration which includes working with children and young people to build better solution.