The MHI Journey
A timeline of how Mental Health Innovations has grown through partnership, innovation and insight to transform digital mental health support.
Over the past decade, Mental Health Innovations has grown from a bold idea into a pioneering force in digital mental health support, reaching hundreds of thousands of people across the UK.
From launching Shout to merging with The Mix, each step in our journey has been shaped by partnership, innovation and a commitment to meeting changing needs.
Read on to explore how our work has evolved — and what we’ve learned along the way.
The Timeline
-
Heads Together
“A campaign to tackle stigma and change the conversation on mental health.”
Through Heads Together, we helped tackle stigma and spark a national conversation on mental health.
This moment revealed a growing gap between demand and available support — and highlighted the potential for digital services to play a role.
2016
-
2017
Building something new
With support from The Royal Foundation, Mental Health Innovations was created to develop a new kind of digital service, with data at its core.
-
Piloting Shout
MHI pilots Shout in partnership with The Mix, reinforcing a core theme of working collaboratively across the sector.
Not only did we learn that we can deliver effective digital mental health support, we also discovered that there was clear deman and services needed to be 24/7 - leading to expansion of our team in New Zealand.
This marked a shift in how digital support was viewed, helping change the conversation around what’s possible.
2018
-
2019
Shout launches publicly
Upon launch, we learned that:
- Strong demand to volunteer
- Mainstream media alone didn’t drive service
- Keyword partnerships work - reinforcing our focus on collaboration (e.g. Kent ICB award)
2015 - The Mix is formed
Rebranded from Get Connected and YouthNet, bringing together helpline and digital support services for under 25s in the UK.
In 2021, the Youth Advisory Board (YAB) was established - reinforcing that young people want to volunteer, offer peer support, and develop skills within a power-sharing environment.
This also reflects a shared theme across our histories: recognising the value of partnership and merger to expand services and strengthen support - a theme that continues in our journey.
-
The pandemic
We rapidly scaled Shout to meet a surge in demand.
We learned:
- Digital services are resilient and uninterrupted
- We could scale without government support
- Partnerships were key
- Mental health rose on the national agenda
- Our data provided real-time insights (e.g. to Department of Health and Social Care)
2020
-
2021
The pandemic continues
Funding became more challenging, leading to the launch of public fundraising.
We introduced our first NHS ICB keyword partnership and expanded access through Google OneBox.
-
Post-pandemic
Demand remained high, shaped by the lasting impact of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, which also created funding challenges.
We paused wider promotion, expanded our Data Insights team with support from the Jensen and Lori Huang Foundation, and developed the Shout Conversation Simulator using early generative AI.
We also began contributing data insights to the Department of Health and Social Care National Suicide Prevention Strategy Advisory Group.
2022
-
2023
Expanding impact
We launched a prisons service with Serco and expanded Google OneBox to eating disorders.
We helped shape the National Suicide Prevention Strategy - including the ambition for a national 24/7 crisis text line - supported by our data, simulator and work with at-risk groups. This was reinforced through Urgent and Emergency Care funding and support from the Suicide Prevention Fund.
2026 — Shout today
Powered by a trained volunteer community and underpinned by clinical governance, Shout continues to evolve - combining human empathy with data, insight and technology to deliver accessible, high-quality support at scale.
Shout also plays a growing role beyond direct service delivery, using real-time data to inform national understanding of mental health and shape policy, prevention and system-wide response.
-
Merging with The Mix
We merged with The Mix, strengthening our combined impact.
We learned:
- Funders support collaborative models like mergers
- While we launched a clinical model for Shout, NHS commissioning remained slow
2024
-
2025
Building for the future
We expanded corporate partnerships, launched LifeSkills and a new Mix website.
Our Data Insights team received an RSS award, and we built Peer Chat ahead of its 2026 launch.
-
Looking ahead
We launched Peer Chat and built a Wellcome Trust-funded Data and Evidence Network of mental health charities.
We’re learning:
- AI is reshaping how people find support
- Young people want to support each other
2026