Children and Young People's Mental Health Coalition

On the campaign trail

The Coalition has a good track record in directly influencing Government policy, and there are tangible benefits to all children and young people through its work. This includes:

• Influenced the Government’s report, Future in Mind, which set out a blueprint for the children and young people's mental health system. Many of its members were on the Task group, and their Strategic Lead was seconded into the Department of Health to help develop and write the policy.

• Successfully lobbied the Government to commission an update on the 2004 children and young people's mental health Prevalence Survey, which will be published this year

The Coalition also successfully raised awareness of and influenced policy and practice regarding mental health in schools:

o It was commissioned by Public Health England to develop a framework for a whole school approach to promote mental health and wellbeing.
o Theirbriefing set out 3 key elements that need to be put in place to improve pupils’ and teachers’ mental health.
o Working with the Partnership for Wellbeing and Mental Health in Schools and the Fair Education Alliance, to collectively lobby and influence policy around children and young people’s mental health in educational settings.
o Main political parties included mental health and wellbeing in schools in their last election manifestos.
o In contact with civil servants to influence policy such as Government’s recent Green Paper on children and young people’s mental health and schools, and the thematic review of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS).
o Continue to hold the Government to account for its implementation, and also act as a critical friend to influence their thinking at an early stage.

As you can see, the Coalition has achieved a lot in a short space of time, but it is ambitious to do more and keep up the pressure on the Government to ensure that policy is put into practice equally across the country, so no child is left behind.

CYPMHC’s Funders’ Alliance 

The Children & Young People's Mental Health Coalition Funder's Alliance was originally set up and developed with funding from the Zurich Community Trust (ZCT). More recently, and with the continued support of ZCT, we have set-up a collaboration of funders to further support the Coalition’s policy work and ambition to bring about system change.

Our current ambition is to get 8-10 funders to join the Funders’ Alliance and put in £10,000 a year for 3-5 years to sustain the Coalition’s work. In return, The Coalition will offer funders access to mental health experts, learning events, and an annual networking event for Funders Alliance members. We envisage the Funders’ Alliance helping Foundations and Trusts to get a better understanding of mental health, thus helping them to better target their wider resources.

Finance

The basic cost of running the CYPMHC is £90,000 per annum. Funding has been secured for the CYPMHC Funders Alliance from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Comic Relief and from the John Ellerman Foundation together with ongoing support from ZCT.