Biggest ever grant from Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Topic: mental health support for young people, partnerships and funders

a teacher is laughing while he sits in between two of his students who are also laughing inside the classroom

The grant will enable YoungMinds to reach and engage more young people experiencing disadvantage, inequality and injustice, which are key contributors to mental health problems. They will further develop their youth centred approach, expanding the way YoungMinds connects with young people to generate ideas, share stories and inform the design of their support and services.

The grant will also support the growth and evolution of existing services, like the Parents Helpline, and develop how they work as a charity to learn and respond to changing needs.

YoungMinds and Paul Hamlyn Foundation have a long-standing relationship having first worked together in November 2015. The foundation has previously provided support through the Youth Strategic Investment Fund grant, which has been instrumental in helping YoungMinds to grow in size and impact over the last seven years.

The new funding comes at a time when the number of young people struggling with their mental health is at an all time high. Young people are facing huge pressures, living through a pandemic during key developmental years, a cost-of-living crisis and global instability, as well as pressures at home and in education. All of this has taken a toll on mental health. When they try to access support, many endure long waits for help while others are told they’re not unwell enough to be referred. All the while their mental health is deteriorating and the consequences can be devastating for the young person and their family. YoungMinds is developing a new strategy to address this.

Every day we hear from young people who need support for their mental health but are unable to get it. They are growing up in an increasingly unstable world, with the impact of the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis and global instability all taking a toll on their mental health, and help is too hard to find. We know change is possible and we are incredibly grateful to Paul Hamlyn Foundation for such a significant grant and for their belief in where we are heading. We are determined to turn this situation around, working side by side with young people, and a grant as large and long-term as this gives us confidence to take the bold and decisive steps we believe are needed.

Laura Bunt, Chief Executive of YoungMinds
YoungMinds works to ensure that all young people get the mental health support they need, when they need it. This grant recognises the vital role YoungMinds are playing to address the fundamental connection between marginalisation, exclusion, mental health and young people’s ability to thrive. We see this grant not only as an investment in YoungMinds, but in the mental health and wellbeing of young people all over the UK. Funding will support YoungMinds to be led by the voices of young people, to innovate as well as remain responsive to growing need and to focus their work with and for young people who need them most.

Moira Sinclair, Chief Executive, Paul Hamlyn Foundation