Mental Health Research UK COVID-19 PhD

To mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2020, Mental Health Research UK has launched a campaign to raise £120,000 for a new PhD research scholarship on psychological trauma arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

It's very clear that COVID-19 is having a substantial impact on people’s mental health. Those who already suffered from mental ill-health may suffer longer-term psychological effects. In addition, the prolonged strain of living under lockdown is causing a significant rise in stress and anxiety across the country. We need to better understand the impact of COVID-19 on people’s mental health in order to make sure they receive the best treatment and support as we recover from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic.

We at Mental Health Research UK knew that we had to react to the increased need for research in this area. Accordingly, we need YOU to help us! Our goal is to raise £120,000 to award a PhD scholarship for research into psychological trauma arising from the pandemic. We've been inspired by one of our supporters' creative fundraising challenges. In support of Mental Health Research UK and NHS Charities Together, Victoria Morris climbed the equivalent of the North Face of the Eiger up the outside of her house! She used a fixed rope and repeated the same climb 492 times - 5,900 feet! For every £1,000 raised, Victoria spent a night strapped on a porta-ledge on the wall of her cottage. We've added a link so you can check out the videos she made during her challenge!

We're asking our wonderful supporters to pledge to do one challenge for MHRUK in the next six months, however small, and regardless of the size of your final fundraising amount; every bit counts! We’ll be posting creative ideas on our website, and we’d love you to share whatever challenge you decide upon with us. Fear not, there's no need to undertake a challenge as daring as Victoria's! Whatever you feel able to do, we really appreciate. What matters is that you care enough to spend your time helping us. We'll add every one of your challenges to a special page on our website, and share them on our social media platforms. You can link to our campaign, and whatever amount you're able to raise will be added to the total towards our goal. 

We hope you’re as excited about this new campaign as we are! We look forward to your photographs and tales about your inventive challenges! We thank you in advance for helping us to transform lives and make a long-term difference. 

About Mental Health Research UK

Mental Health Research UK (MHRUK) is the UK's first charity with the sole objective of supporting research into the causes of and cures for mental ill-health. Through funding research into the causes of mental illness, we believe that better treatments with fewer side-effects can be developed.