Mental Health Scale Up Fund

In recognition of an unprecedented level of need for support for young people’s mental health in Surrey, the Community Foundation for Surrey launched a new Mental Health Scale-Up fund in 2021:

Purpose

We are seeking to produce step change improvement to support available in Surrey for young people’s mental health.  We particularly want to fund projects which demonstrate clear, measurable impact and ability to scale up to reach more beneficiaries, an additional cohort and/or a wider geographic area.

CFSurrey funding supports community groups, charities, and other members of the VCSE sector but not the public sector or private companies. See eligibility criteria.

Surrey County Council and NHS Surrey Heartlands have pledged £500,000 from the Mental Health Investment Fund for a new funding round of the Mental Health Scale-Up Fund. CFSurrey have 100% matched this donation thanks to the generous support of two private foundations. We will award £1m of grant funding in Round 4 of this Fund.

• This Round will provide grants of up to £75,000 per year for up to 5 years in the first instance and is likely to award a maximum of 4 grants.

Round 4 is now CLOSED for Expressions of Interest.

Funding Focus – suicide prevention in young adults.

Priority outcomes for funding

• Young adults at risk of and with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues access the right early help, preventative support and resources
• The emotional well-being of parents, caregivers, and whole families of young adults is supported
• Isolation of young adults is prevented and those that feel isolated are supported
• Environments and communities in which young adults live, work and learn are supported to build good mental health

See attached for more info on funding criteria.

We particularly want to fund projects which demonstrate clear, measurable impact in young people and have the ability to scale up to reach:

• More beneficiaries, or,
• Beneficiaries in cohorts that are experiencing particular challenges in mental health, or,
• Beneficiaries that struggle to access support, or,
• Beneficiaries across a wider geographic area.

As part of scoping our Fund we commissioned a major listening exercise to hear from stakeholders, the report – Community Foundation for Surrey Mental Health Scale Up: The Listening Phase – makes stark reading and highlights some key strengths of current provision, as well as some barriers we will need to overcome if we are to achieve our aim of making a step-change in provision.

We are delighted to report that to date we have made five grant awards from the MHSU Fund. Each five-year grant will support the development and expansion of vital support for young people.

• Surrey Care Trust – Nurture through nature
• Be Me Project – Courses for young people in secondary school
• Eikon Charity – Primary school mental health
• Home-Start Surrey – Dad matters perinatal mental health
• SMEF – Perinatal health in minoritised groups

Fund Decision-making

Like all the funds that CFSurrey manages, initial applications are scored against the fund criteria to make a shortlist. Shortlisted applicants are invited to submit a full application and for this fund they are invited to come and present to the panel. The fund panel, again like all our funds, consists of representatives of those donating the funds, in this case three of the family foundations supporting the fund, Surrey County Council and Surrey Heartlands each of which have 1 seat. However, for this fund it is also chaired by a CFSurrey Vice-President, Jim Glover OBE, and contains three CFSurrey Trustees, Neelam Devesher DL, Roshan Bailey and Elaine Tisdall OBE. This panel membership was chosen to get a broad overview and knowledge of the many challenges of working in the voluntary sector.

To enquire about becoming a donor, please email us at giving@cfsurrey.org.uk

If you wish to speak to one of our team:

Contact Amy Lee, Fund Development Manager

01483 906383, amy@cfsurrey.org.uk