We raise funds for research into child mental health problems. We know less about how children's minds work than we do about our universe, yet very little funding goes into this crucial area of research. We want understand how to help children stay happy and mentally healthy.
Why the community needs us
Children with mental health problems suffer, but so do their families and communities because children's mental health problems can lead to behaviour problems and social exclusion throughout their lives. By understanding how to reduce these problems we hope to help our children and our community.
Our impact on the community
We already know that mental health problems that emerge in childhood can have lifelong consequences for that child and for everyone around him or her. For example, studies have shown that children who show very violent behaviour in the first years of life are likely to contribute disproportionately to community crime in later life. We don't understand how or why this happens and we hope that the work of "Understanding Children" will help to enlighten us about this in years to come.