Nick Pollard is the co-founder of Damaris Trust. Now, with his wife, Carol, and daughter, Dr Elizabeth McNaught, he has set up Family Mental Wealth, a government-funded social enterprise working in collaboration with a number of groups. A challenging time in his family led him to form something to help alleviate the mental-health challenges faced by many young people today
Nick Pollard is the co-founder of Damaris Trust. Now, with his wife, Carol, and daughter, Dr Elizabeth McNaught, he has set up Family Mental Wealth, a government-funded social enterprise working in collaboration with a number of groups. A challenging time in his family led him to form something to help alleviate the mental-health challenges faced by many young people today
Premier Youth and Children’s Work: Nick, perhaps we could start by you telling the story of how your daughter Elizabeth became ill.
Nick Pollard: It crept up on us slowly and it’s often hard to distinguish between the development of mental ill health and normal teenage adolescent behaviour (she was 13 when it all began). But she started restricting foods, she started exercising obsessively, and it got to a point where actually you could see that it was becoming obsessive. Eventually she became very ill and was hospitalised when she was 14. At one point we were told it was possible she might not make it.
YCW: Every parent’s worst nightmare?
NP: It was a big learning experience for us as parents, my background is in psychology – I trained originally as a research psychologist and was heading towards an academic career. And so, I kind of thought, well, what kind of father am I? How had I not noticed it?
“It’s often hard to distinguish between the development of mental ill health and normal teenage adolescent behaviour”
YCW: But you had the courage to not keep silent and quiet about this. You realise that your story could be a value to others?
NP: Yes, over many years, Lizzie got better, she went to medical school and qualified as a doctor. It was her vision to try and do something to help those with mental-health challenges, including eating disorders like she had and also anxiety, depression, OCD, self-harm. I have a background in social enterprise and so she, together with myself and my wife Carol, formed Family Mental Wealth and were thrilled to see so many bodies excited to work with us.
YCW: And mental-health challenges affect many young people?
NP: There are about 18 percent of young people from the latest NHS figures, And it comes in various forms. The Royal College of Psychiatrists says that ten percent of consultant psychiatrists’ posts are empty and they can’t fill them. So there’s a shortage right now of clinicians, and it’s never going to keep up with the future demand.
YCW: What does Family Mental Wealth aim to do?
NP: We promote a number of methods of skills-based caring. These kinds of skills are transferable, whatever situation you’re in, and they can also help prevent mental ill health as well if we can help the young person to develop a mentally healthy life.
We were overwhelmed by people gathering around our vision with: the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex University and Southampton University. And then we started attracting government funding from the Department for Health and Social Care.
Parents and carers are the closest to the young people, and don’t change jobs and move on after six months! From a health economics perspective, from the NHS budget, they’re also the cheapest. So we’ve created these digital tools for young people to use themselves within a family context.
On our website, we provide resources for parents and carers. There is a parent toolkit with access to the first part of it completely free. Then there’s a subscription if you want to access the more in-depth stuff, with over 100 short videos from experts and also from ordinary people who’ve been through it – parents and children who have come through mental ill health.
We also have resources for direct use of young people called Headway. These include therapeutic activities for the young person to use: all are solidly evidence based and clinically sound. Our collaborators at the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex did a huge amount of research for us.
They use what we call psychometric tests, with two particular insight tools. One’s called a thought slider and one’s called a feelings wheel. They help young people discern where they are at and give them some strategies to improve. Some parents have said they too benefit from the ideas.
