This is Stuart Fife. One Friday in June, he was running a course and only a handful of the 20 young people had turned up. He didn’t want to start without them. Why? Because it mattered to him. This course would help vulnerable young people build key skills to get into employment and fulfil their potential.

It upset him that many didn’t complete the course because of mental health issues.  He knew there was a quicker and more effective way of supporting them but no one in his organisation was listening.  “We don’t give mental health support” he would hear managers say, or “that’s not how we do things here”. Why did Stuart think he was able to provide a better way for these youngsters? Because he was a qualified psychotherapist.

Stuart had an idea for a more focused mental heath intervention but it wasn’t very well formed in his mind.  He struggled to articulate how this service would look. He developed his idea with The Lens and built a compelling case. He worked hard and it paid off!  He won £18K investment for a new mental health intervention that would significantly increase attendance and engagement for young people looking to get into work.  A further £600k was invested in his idea through a collaboration with the Scottish Association for Mental Health two years later and fast forward to today, Stuart is the founder and CEO of the mental health charity Mindset.