Our vision
Parents and carers have an invaluable contribution to make when it comes to research into children and young people’s mental health.
We know that children and young people can experience a range of mental health difficulties at different stages in their lives. Mental health research helps to find a way to support children, young people, and their families, through shaping policy and improving services.
To have the biggest impact on children and young people’s mental health, it’s vital that the diverse experiences and voices of parents and carers from across the country are included in research.
It’s only relatively recently that children and young people’s mental health researchers have involved parents and carers in the say way as they were involving children and young people as valued lived experience voices. And bringing parents, carers and researchers together hasn’t always been easy or led to positive outcomes.
The network’s aim is for the experiences of all parents and carers to be represented in research. We also want to ensure that parents and carers have positive experiences of being involved in research. This includes:
- being compensated appropriately
- feeling that they are part of a safe space, with research activities accessible to their needs
- receiving feedback on the impact of their participation
- and feeling valued for the contribution they made.
Through the network, parents and carers can work with researchers to change how children and young people’s mental health research is done.
Our history
“In 2018 myself and three other parents joined the Emerging Minds Network as Parent Advisors. It was such an empowering experience, where we felt respected and the contributions we made, based on our lived experience, were values. We were helping to make a difference through research.
Whilst the Emerging Minds Network achieved many successes in children and young people’s mental health research during its four years, there was one thing we didn’t manage… creating a network for parents and carers to take an active role in children and young people’s mental health research and help people see why this was important. We didn’t give up though!
When Professor Cathy Cresewll and Emily Lloyd from Emerging Minds were leading a new project at the University of Oxford, they invites us Parent Advisors back to explore new ways to achieve our goal. The Mental Health in Development team has funding for a number of years but we wanted to ensure anything we created would continue forever. By this time, I was working with the Charlie Waller Trust, a mental health charity, and a partnership between the two organisations seemed like the ideal solution. Thankfully the Charlie Waller Trust agreed… and the creation of the Parent Carer Research Network began!”
- As told by Nikki Chapman, network co-facilitator and Parent/Carer Lived Experience Lead at the Charlie Waller Trust
Who runs the network?
The network is facilitated and funded by the Charlie Waller Trust, in partnership with Mental Health in Development (MHID) and the Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research based at the University of Oxford.
The Charlie Waller Trust is a UK-based mental health charity that provides training and resources with a focus on children and young people. They equip parents, carers, teachers and communities with the best and latest evidence-based strategies, giving them the knowledge and confidence to help young people thrive.
MHID aims to develop targeted, effective, and accessible mental health interventions that meet the needs of diverse children and young people (aged 0-18 years) and their families. It is funded by the Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre.
Meet our team
The network is guided by a steering group of parents and carers who have lived experience of supporting their children with mental health difficulties.
Our network facilitation team includes:
Network Co-Facilitators
- Nikki Chapman, Parent/Carer Lived Experience Lead, Charlie Waller Trust
- Shanta Raj, Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement Facilitator, MHID
Project Management, Communications & Administration
- Heather Dyer, Research Coordinator, MHID
- Em Wyatt, Marketing and Communications Manager, Charlie Waller Trust
- Annabelle Easton, Programme Manager for Parent and Carer Peer Support, Charlie Waller Trust
- Emily Lloyd, Head of Operations & Engagement, Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research
- Susannah Dodds, Communications & Administration Assistant, MHID[HD1]
Research Advisors
- Polly Waite, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology, Deputy Lead for MHID
Get in touch
If you have any questions about the network feel free to email us on parentcarerresearchnetwork@psych.ox.ac.uk.