A beacon of hope for children and young people’s mental health

On the evening of June 9th I had the privilege of standing with our partners in the King’s Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People to officially open the doors of its flagship Pears Maudsley Centre. The opening represents the culmination of a dream shared across the partnership when then Maudsley Charity CEO Rebecca Gray stood shoulder to shoulder with our partners to break ground on this site five years ago this month.   

We made our largest ever single donation to date of £10m to the building of the Centre and have committed ourselves to ongoing support of the King’s Maudsley Partnership because we so strongly believe in its vision – bringing together some of the best clinical and research minds in the country to better understand and treat the mental health challenges being increasingly faced by our children and young people.  

It could not have come at a better time. One in five children and young people aged eight to 25 is dealing with a probable mental health condition.1  And as highlighted by the recent Milburn review, of the 957,000 16- to 24-year-olds classified by the government as NEET (not in education, employment or training), 76% say their mental wellbeing directly affects their ability to look for work.2 

A joined-up approach is the only way to address this growing demand. Along with our support for this unique collaboration, we are also funding partnerships between South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, researchers and trusted community organisations in South London through our Building Brighter Futures programme. They are delivering early, evidence-based interventions that keep children from becoming really unwell.  

And we will continually share evidence generated by all our work with children and young people to ensure that the most effective solutions are implemented, not just in South London, but across the country.   

These are reasons for genuine optimism.  

I’ve already seen hope etched on the faces of the first set of families visiting the Centre. A few weeks ago, I encountered a mother in our café at Ortus, the charity’s headquarters, fresh from her first appointment next door. After a lengthy spell on the NHS waiting list, she had nothing but praise for how she and her child were dealt with by the clinicians and researchers she saw there.  

She also remarked that she had never been in a setting like it on an NHS site and that the building itself made her feel cared for. This is a testament to the investment of time in consulting young people and families on both the design of the building and in the commissioning of the artwork still being installed into and around it.  

We want families like hers to feel reassured that with the work to come from the committed teams at the King’s Maudsley Partnership, a happy and healthy future for their children remains within reach.   

Learn more about the Pears Maudsley Centre.