The Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People
World-leading mental health care for children and young people
The collaboration between the King’s Maudsley Partnership and Pears Foundation will transform the way we understand, prevent and treat young people’s mental illness. Pears’ support for the ground-breaking new Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People – a partnership between Maudsley Charity, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London – will revolutionise treatments. Bringing together researchers and clinicians under one roof will accelerate discoveries into the causes of mental health challenges, allowing us to build a new generation of interventions and treatments, personalised to each child. We have been delighted to partner with Pears Foundation since the early stages of this project. Their support, engagement and dedication to our shared values of promoting children's social and emotional wellbeing has been critical in making this new building a reality and will improve the lives of children and their families for generations to come.Professor Philip Shaw, Director,
The King’s Maudsley Partnership
Mental health has for too long been stigmatised and underfunded, often leaving people struggling to access the right support. The good news is that this is now changing, but much more needs to be done. Building capability and capacity in the sector is critical. Our goal is to enable a substantial increase in high quality research and training, which is why we are delighted to be supporting the Maudsley and this wonderful new centre.Sir Trevor Pears CMG
Partner since: 2017
Funding invested: £5.9million
- Capital: The Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People
- Core: Research funding for the Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People
- Project: #iWill funding for youth volunteering
Pears Foundation is committed to promoting young people’s social and emotional wellbeing. Our work ranges from creating opportunities for young people to engage positively in their local community through volunteering, to supporting organisations working directly with children and young people struggling with their mental health. Our partnership with the Maudsley encompasses both ends of this spectrum.
The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust can trace its roots back to 1247 and the Bethlehem, or ‘Bedlam’, Hospital. Today, the Maudsley is the leading provider of clinical mental health provision in the UK, further boosted by their close research and training collaboration with King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN). With a lead donation of £5million from Pears Foundation, the Maudsley and the IoPPN have come together to create The Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People, an exceptional centre of care for young people, on their Denmark Hill Campus in South London.
The Centre, which is due to open 2025, will bring together, under one roof, the world’s leading experts in clinical care and research. It is designed to enable clinicians and scientists to collaborate, share ideas and identify treatments that will make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and their families.
The building will also provide a new home for the outstanding-rated Maudsley and Bethlem Hospital School which provides highly personalised education for young people whilst they are inpatients, making sure that they can keep up with their studies at this challenging time in their lives.
The Foundation has provided a further £0.5million towards the launch of the Centre’s Clinical Research Facility which contains cutting-edge technologies to better understand brain and behaviour and is building close links with local community partners.
We have also co-funded the Rosetrees Pears Chair of Bioinformatics, and through the Pears #iwill Fund, helped create new youth volunteering opportunities at the Maudsley including an innovative peer support scheme for young people experiencing mental health difficulties.