Nominet launches online mental health funding programme
Melanie May | 14 November 2019 | News
Nominet has launched a programme aimed at increasing the reach and impact of mental health services for young people and providing grants of over £500,000 to mental health and youth charities in the UK.
The Nominet #RESET Mental Health Programme will provide grants to charities including Barnardo’s, The Mix, Chasing the Stigma and YoungMinds to help them deliver a range of activities, including improving signposting online, developing new digital products, digitally transforming their organisation to meet demand, and creating best-practice guidance for those developing digital mental health products for young people.
The launch follows Nominet research into charities, young people and digital mental health services, sector mapping activity, and an expert panel event to identify key challenges. Funding will be provided based on an in-depth consultation with each of its charity partners. Each one will invest in the development and delivery of their activities over an 18-month period from December 2019 with Nominet and its partners then share an impact and learning report each year to help others exploring the role of digital in this field.
Eleanor Bradley, MD of Registry Solutions and Public Benefit at Nominet said:
“Demand for mental health services has risen dramatically in the last five years, and at the same time the channels young people use to seek support have migrated to digital. Our research showed that many expert charities offering targeted support for specific needs when young people are most vulnerable or in crisis are at risk of falling behind digitally or need help to amplify what they offer, and we want to support these organisations to be at the forefront of digital mental health service provision.
“As part of our commitment to public benefit, with a focus on driving initiatives that promote greater connectivity, inclusivity and security online, we believe our new funding programme #RESET will provide some much needed help.”
“Working with these organisations we’re focused on our #RESET funding positively impacting as many young people as possible – reaching over 600,000 by December 2020 and up to 3 million over the next three years – with online mental health services that really make a difference.”
Will there be further funding?
Asked whether the fund would be repeated or made available to other organisations, Chris Ashworth, Head of Public Benefit at Nominet, said: “The current #RESET programme was a challenge fund for invited charity partners based on our research, as opposed to an open call for proposals. It’s too early to know what the fund will look like in the future, but we’re looking forward to seeing the progress and outcomes of each of the partners’ work to help inform any plans. The key is to provide support to these organisations at the forefront of digital mental health service provisions for positive outcomes for young people.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.