Mental Health Innovations (MHI) is a digital mental health charity, which uses digital innovation, data-driven analysis and the experience of clinical experts to improve the mental health of the UK population through the provision of digital tools, support and resources.
MHI was founded in November 2017, with the support of The Royal Foundation, following the Heads Together campaign which identified the potential that digital tools offer in supporting people struggling with their mental health.
Testimonials
We want to use the power of technology to reach the millions of people, especially young people, who feel isolated and alone, and help them to find the right place to talk. - Victoria Hornby, CEO of Mental Health Innovations
Our services
Mental Health Innovations is the charity behind Shout 85258, a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope. Shout began as a pilot in May 2018, and was launched publicly in May 2019. Shout Volunteers have taken more than 450,000 conversations with people who are anxious, stressed, depressed, suicidal or overwhelmed and who need immediate support. As a digital service, Shout 85258 has become increasingly critical since Covid-19, being one of the few mental health support services able to operate as normal at this time.
Testimonials
I was in a dark place and I didn’t want to carry on but you made me realise there is hope and things will get better.
Working in partnership
Mental Health Innovations works in partnership with charities, academic institutions and the corporate sector to help improve mental health in the UK. We have a research partnership with Imperial College London. We are working with researchers at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, the EPSRC Centre for Mathematics of Precision Healthcare, and the Data Science Institute, using anonymised, aggregated data, to generate unique insights into the mental health of the UK population. We use these insights to enhance our services and report on trends of interest for the broader mental health sector.
The future
Shout 85258 is the first product from Mental Health Innovations. We use data insight from the service usage to both refine the Shout service itself and also to help us to design and develop innovative new digital tools and products to support the mental health of the UK population, that will meet evidence-based areas of need.
Our supporters
We are incredibly grateful to our existing supporters. These include The Royal Foundation, whose generous founding grant launched the charity, philanthropic foundations and a growing number of corporate partners.
Who we are
Find out more about Mental Health Innovations' Board of Trustees and Senior Management team.
Diversity and Inclusion
In 2020 Mental Health Innovations established a Diversity and Inclusion working group. Their mission is to ensure that the organisation is truly diverse and inclusive, in order that we have a creative and empowered team that can develop and deliver high quality services to anyone who needs them.
We strive to be representative of the UK population at all levels of the organisation, from staff to volunteers and beneficiaries. We will facilitate open conversations that enable stakeholders to challenge our attitudes and working practices. We will identify where improvements need to be made to work towards our goals, make evidence-based recommendations, seek feedback and be held accountable for our progress.