Increasing young people’s access to consistent support to reduce suicide and improve mental health.
Our Purpose.
Our purpose is to improve lives and reduce suicide by increasing access to consistent digital health support for young people.
Why? Because 74% of young people who die by suicide have had absolutely no contact with mental health services [NCISH, 2017].
Research confirms that consistent longitudinal support for young people contemplating suicide has greater clinical value than intermittent crisis support [Thomas et al, 2024, NHS, 2023].
Investing in the future.
Just 8% of the total spend on mental health services in the UK is currently spent on children and young people [Kings Fund, 2024].
Lack of funding for early help is a false economy. The mean hospital cost for a single episode of self-harm is £809 so simply managing serious cases of self-harm costs hospitals around £162m a year [Tsiachristas, 2017].
Our Aim
The Foundation aims to fund innovative digital health support solutions that can improve outcomes and opportunities for young people who do not, or cannot, access mental health services.
Youth self-harm and suicide are a public health priority; 36.8% of young people have engaged in self-harm [NHS, 2023] and suicide is one of the leading causes of death for young people in the UK [RCPCH, 2020]. Yet NHS support for children and young people is only 8% of the total spend on mental health services [Kings Fund, 2024]. Although the transition from analogue to digital (DHSC, 2025) is a cornerstone of the NHS ten year plan, digital innovation is currently severely underfunded (NPC,2019).
Research confirms that consistent longitudinal support for young people contemplating suicide has greater clinical value than intermittent crisis support [Thomas et al, 2024, NHS, 2023]. Our focus therefore, is on investing in digital innovations that move away from traditional 1-2-1 phone and text helplines which are not scalable and which young people like least [White, 2024].
Current Projects
The Tellmi Foundation achieves its aims through partnership and collaboration with a range of charities, social enterprises, digital providers and research institutions who exist to support the mental health of young people. The charity focuses on those in disadvantaged communities, who are most at need.
Barry, Wales
Delivering scalable digital mental health support to disadvantaged young people in East Barry in Wales.
Increasing Access To Digital Support
Funding for digital solutions that provide young people with any time access to effective mental health support.
Tackling Unemployment
Supporting young people with poor mental health to gain confidence and skills through digital work experience.