Government backs new research drive
The government has announced a £50 million funding boost for groundbreaking mental health research aimed at developing more effective treatments and improving care for millions of people across the UK.
Unveiled on World Mental Health Day, the investment will underpin the Mental Health Goals programme, a five-year initiative to fast-track new therapies, medicines and technologies, while embedding people with lived experience at the centre of research design.
The programme will help attract global investment and commercial clinical trials to the UK, supporting the country’s £100 billion life sciences sector.
Tackling a £300bn challenge
Poor mental health affects one in four people in England and costs the economy an estimated £300 billion each year in lost productivity, unemployment, and care costs.
Science Minister Lord Vallance said the funding would help Britain be “every bit as ambitious for what science can do in tackling mental health challenges” as it has been in areas like cancer and heart disease.
Health Minister Stephen Kinnock added: “Too many people across Britain are struggling with poor mental health. It doesn’t have to be this way, and we’re determined to change it.”
He said the government’s wider efforts include recruiting 8,500 new mental health workers, expanding talking therapies, and improving access through the NHS App as part of a 10-year health plan.
Lived experience at the heart
The initiative will create a 20,000-strong volunteer cohort to provide secure health data for research and establish a Lived Experience Industry Partnership, ensuring patients’ voices shape innovation.
Professor Kathryn Abel, co-chair of the Mental Health Goals programme, said the project marks a “step change in how we deliver innovation”, bringing together science, industry, and lived experience “built on mutual respect and shared purpose”.
Her co-chair, Professor Husseini Manji, added: “We have the chance to do for mental health what has been done in other areas of medicine – turn cutting-edge science into real breakthroughs that change lives.”
Building lasting impact
The programme, led by the Medical Research Council under UK Research and Innovation, will enhance data and digital infrastructure to support research.
It has received backing from leading mental health organisations including Rethink Mental Illness, The McPin Foundation, ABHI, and Wellcome, all praising the focus on lived experience and collaboration with industry.
Miranda Wolpert, Director of Mental Health at Wellcome, said: “This new investment is a vital step towards unlocking the untapped potential of science to deliver more effective and personalised approaches.”
The government said the funding marks a major step towards making the UK “the most attractive place in the world for mental health innovation.”
