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New Population Mental Health-backed projects to tackle youth mental health receive funding

Three collaborative projects focused on improving the mental well-being of marginalised adolescents have been awarded initial seed funding of up to £24,000. Watch the highlights from a Population Mental Health (PMH) Consortium innovation lab held on June 20, 2025, in Birmingham below.

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The successful projects, which include partnerships between institutions including King's College London, University of Warwick and Medical School, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Higher Health UK, University of Birmingham and PAPYRUS, aim to develop new preventative approaches to tackle the mental health challenges facing young people today.

A focus on relationships and environment

Instead of treating existing problems, these projects share a common goal of preventing them by focusing on the everyday relationships and environments that shape a young person's wellbeing. The initiatives will explore three key areas:

  • LINCS will investigate how the simple act of eating together can make students feel more connected and supported in secondary schools.

  • POSSUM will examine the vital role of parents' digital habits and social media use in shaping their child's mental health.

  • HEARD will assess whether a peer-led support program can effectively help marginalised adolescents by teaching them to support one another.

Addressing root causes and inequalities

These projects target the ‘upstream’ factors that contribute to poor mental health, such as social exclusion, family dynamics, and a lack of social connection. A core mission is to reduce deep-seated mental health inequalities by focusing on adolescents on the margins of the education system—young people who are often disengaging from school and exams.

The Birmingham innovation lab lead Dr Paul Patterson from Birmingham's Children & Young People's NHS Mental Health Services, commented on the importance of the new projects:

By giving a voice to a diverse range of caregivers and adolescents, including those from deprived areas often overlooked in research, the projects will lay the groundwork for a more inclusive and scalable approach to youth mental health support.

PMH Consortium Co-Directors Jay Das-Munshi, King’s College London and Dan Barrett, Thrive LDN said the newly funded projects represent a crucial shift in how we approach mental health:

These projects highlight the shift from a traditional top-down approach to one that is grounded in the lived experiences of young people and their families. This is a crucial step towards ensuring that mental health support is not only effective but also equitable and accessible to everyone who needs it.

More information on PMH Consortium innovation labs

Our innovation labs (sometimes referred to as 'sandpits') are an ongoing series of hands-on workshops and networking events, bringing together researchers, academics, organisations and individuals with community insights to develop research ideas on specific topics. Read more about our innovation labs on 'The Built Environment, Multiple Long-term Conditions and Mental Health', 'Young People's Mental Health'  and Digital Innovations for Suicide and Self-harm Prevention.

For more information and if you would like to get involved, please email popmh@kcl.ac.uk. You can sign up for the PMH Consortium newsletter here.

 

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