The NIHR Mental Health Translational Research Collaboration (MH-TRC) Mission recently hosted an online event where applicants were awarded funding to create new Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) projects.
The MH-TRC Mission’s Children and Young People’s (CYP) Mental Health workstream CYP PPIE Funding Scheme supports researchers and contributors with £400 to create their own creative, inclusive and engaging PPIE project aimed at helping children, young people or their parents/caregivers who have experience of either a mental health condition, a challenging life experience or neurodiversity.
Applications for the funding scheme, which aims to bring diverse voices into children and young people’s mental health research, was launched in October 2025 and received a total of 18 applications from teams across the UK.
A PPIE pitch event took place in February, which saw the top 5 shortlisted applicants pitch their ideas to a judging panel of experts. The event took place online, in front of an audience of academics, representatives from community organisations and people working or interested in children and young people’s mental health.
The pitches were judged on including diverse voices, the ability to reach different audiences, their creativity, meaningful involvement of patients and the public and valuable impact.
The 3 winning projects were:
Youth research studio: Shaping school support through creativity and collaboration.
The Youth Research Studio is a creative programme where young people shape a new project exploring the school experiences of secondary-school students who report maltreatment.
This project is designed so that that young people play a crucial role in choosing analytical directions, interpreting early findings, and designing impactful outputs for schools and policymakers. The funding will be used towards compensating participants for their time.
The pitch idea was presented by Dr Alexandra Cardoso Pinto, Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School Foundation Doctor.
Dr Cardoso Pinto said: “I am absolutely delighted and sincerely grateful that our PPIE Pitch proposal has been selected for funding.
“This project is all about creating meaningful opportunities for children and young people to shape mental health research, and it’s exciting to see such strong support for approaches that prioritise creativity, collaboration and genuine youth voice.
“I’m really looking forward to working with our young people and our charity partner, AT The Bus, to bring the Youth Research Studio to life!”
Research residential: No such word as can’t
The Health and Youth Work Project’s Young Person’s Advisory Group (YPAG) at the University of Manchester are a group of young people with long-term physical and/or mental health conditions. They collaborate with youth workers and other groups as part of a research project into how youth work services for young people with long-term physical and/or mental health conditions in the UK are organised, provided and experienced, to inform service commissioning and delivery.
The funding will be used to help fund an overnight Research Residential in the summer, where the group can celebrate their achievements and take part in workshops in areas including sharing research in an inclusive and accessible way and developing life skills such as confidence, communication, resilience and peer support.
The pitch was presented by Nicola Rigby, Youth Service Manager at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with young person Olivia, from the YPAG group.
Nicola Rigby said: “This is a true representation on how Youth Voice can be heard and represented. It was an amazing opportunity for young people to grow their confidence and presentation skills. The young people can’t wait to have the experience of the residential and further shout about how young people’s voice in key in research.”
Hidden from help: Amplifying young voices through creative PPIE
This project addresses the challenge of engaging young people in forensic mental health settings in research. These young people often have complex mental health needs and display high risk behaviours. The project involves including this group in PPI to improve clinical services and care in settings including prisons and hospitals.
The funding will be used to support workshops with equipment including art supplies, music tools, and refreshments.
The pitch was presented by Dr Heather Law, Research Manager at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust.
Dr Law said: “We are so excited to receive this funding, which gives our young people in secure settings the opportunity to share their experiences and expertise to help shape research and improve support for others facing similar challenges.”
“The PPI group were so pleased to be heard. They aren’t a group which are often heard, so it makes such a big difference to them that they were chosen to receive the funding. They felt really valued because the panel believes they can do this work”
Over the next 6 months the 3 Pitch winners will receive support from the MH-TRC Mission CYP workstream to implement their PPIE idea by 31st August 2026.
Dr Lesley Booth, MH-TRC Mission PPIEP Lead Coordinator and Judging Panel Chair said:
“I am proud to have supported this project as Chair of the panel. Its thoughtful and creative approach has helped foster more inclusive and meaningful PPIE within the children and young people’s research space, setting a strong foundation for future work.
“It was a pleasure to read the many applications, and I hope that this opportunity will be repeated in the future to amplify lived experience voices and to further encourage genuine engagement which was both inspiring and rewarding. An amazing effort by all who were involved.”
For more information about the MH-TRC Mission CYP workstream, contact Sarah Ashton, Children and Young People’s Mental Health Workstream Project Manager.
