Mentally Fit York provides funding for on the ground initiatives and groundbreaking research, aiming to improve mental health in York and beyond.

Mentally Fit York is a fund with one fundamental aim: to use varying approaches to improve mental health for all with particular attention to those who need it the most. In addition to providing grants for research as well as community and student-focussed initiatives, the fund also supports six scholarships every year for mental health nursing students.

Since the founding of the Institute of Mental Health Research at York (IMRY) in 2022, Mentally Fit York has provided funding for key areas of work at the Institute. The Director of the Institute is also the Chair of the Mentally Fit York disbursement group, and the fund is now strongly aligned with the key objectives and missions of the Institute, providing a renewed drive to continue and build on the long tradition of mental health care and research at York.

The Institute of Mental Health Research at York has at its heart the mission to improve the lives and care of anyone who experiences mental health problems, as well as to help prevent problems arising in the first place and to promote greater mental wellbeing across society. IMRY's ambitions can be imagined as three concentric circles, with caring for those with the greatest need at the centre of their work and with mental illness prevention and mental health promotion surrounding this core. The Institute's geographical focus is not limited to the UK but extends to many parts of the globe including continental Europe, SE Asia, Africa and South America.

“York is in a unique position as more than 30 departments and schools at the University carry out research, teaching, practice and enterprise relevant to mental health. IMRY is a mechanism to bring together resources and assets across the University and help researchers reach outside their individual research teams to connect not just with other academics at York and beyond, but also with our growing community of practitioners and people with lived experiences, so that we can collectively understand, protect and improve mental health.”

Professor Lina Gega, Director, the Institute of Mental Health Research at York.

A recent report by the Mental Health Foundation estimates that poor mental health currently costs the UK £118 billion per year. Mental health research is therefore vital for many reasons: to understand further what causes and maintains mental health problems, to develop and evaluate effective interventions for those who already experience poor mental health and also to design community-level programmes to tackle risk factors that can lead to poor mental health.

By donating to Mentally Fit York this Giving Day, you will be able to help improve mental health. This could be through interdisciplinary research to solve mental health challenges and implement evidence-based mental health initiatives, or supporting student scholarships around mental health, or strategies to directly improve student mental health.

Through the support of people like you, the Mentally Fit York fund draws these varied approaches together to help protect and improve mental health for all. Thank you.