We are pleased to announce that our partner charity The Mix is merging with Mental Health Innovations.
It has always been our charity’s ambition to expand the reach of mental health support we can give to people across the UK through provision of digital products and services. This merger will strengthen our early intervention offer for young people, and is an important and significant step towards delivery of our mission.
The Mix is a digital charity for under 25s, with whom we’ve partnered since Shout’s launch in 2018. They provide a holistic service of free advice, information and support, reaching over five million young people online each year via social media, web content, peer support and counselling services. They deliver their work with the help of experts and more than 1,000 young people in co-design, volunteering and governance roles.
The Mix will sit alongside MHI’s text messaging support service Shout to provide a new ecosystem of free, 24/7 mental health support reaching millions more young people struggling with their wellbeing.
Our pathway for young people will expand to focus on early intervention through an online support community, discussion boards and online resources, as well as offering more volunteering opportunities that enable young people to directly contribute to supporting their peers. We also plan to develop exciting new products such as self-paced learning modules, single-session counselling interventions, growth of the chatbot offering and peer led 121 interventions. We will be in a position to co-create these with our community of young people, through engagement with The Mix’s brilliant Youth Advisory Board.
62% of Shout texters are aged under 25 and the merger will greatly strengthen MHI’s offering for this demographic. Shout will continue to offer its text message service to audiences of all ages who need ‘in the moment’ support with their mental health.
Victoria Hornby OBE, CEO of Mental Health Innovations said: “Bringing The Mix together with Mental Health Innovations, alongside our Shout text messaging support service, will hugely strengthen our offer for the nation’s young people. The merger of our charities will mean that we will be able to improve the mental wellbeing of millions of young people through a broader digital offering encompassing an ecosystem of support and empowerment. Our brilliant volunteer and peer communities will be at the heart of service delivery, underpinned by data insights, cutting edge technology and clinical expertise.”
Chris Martin, CEO of The Mix said: “The union of The Mix and Mental Health Innovations is an incredible opportunity to bring together the UK’s two leading digital charities to drive earlier intervention for young people’s mental health. Our combined team of amazing practitioners hold unique skills in youth participation and engagement, clinical expertise, volunteering, digital development and data science. We will build these elements into The Mix’s work, in order to deliver new interventions with young people at their heart. We believe that this new partnership will create transformational change now and in the future.”