News and Timeline
Following the successful start to our Nurturing Families project in Ashford, we’re excited to announce that we have formalised our collaboration with the Moat Foundation in order to further develop Flourish’s holistic approach and take it to other locations. The new project will embrace further opportunities for integrating counselling with well-being, advocacy and problem-solving activities, in order to help families affected by mental health problems and social disadvantage. This further development of the model will be based in Ashford, in parallel with introducing it in other locations in Kent where Moat run community hubs.
We are delighted to report that the Lottery’s Community Fund has awarded us a £20,000 grant towards the growth of our Nurturing Families project in Ashford, Kent. The project provides a holistic and person-centred counselling, combined with advocacy and problem-solving, for parents in families facing disadvantage. Our integrated approach has proved successful in tackling the entangled issues of mental health and practical life challenges; we now look forward to offering it to more families. We thank the Lottery Team for this valuable grant.
We are delighted that the mental health philosopher, Joe Gough, has agreed to join our Advisory Board (see https://joefgough.com). Joe is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oxford; his current research investigates how the legal profession might best understand personal agency in cases affected by neurodivergence or cognitive impairment. His book, Myths, Mind and Mechanism: Exceptionalism in Philosophy, Science, Medicine, and Law will be published early in 2026. Joe is a valuable contributor to our internal think-tank, the Forum for the Psyche, and will be a tremendous boost to the theory development which is underpinning Flourish’s work on well-being issues in families facing disadvantage.
Sophie brings expertise in policy, advocacy and philanthropy from senior roles at a major national children’s mental health organisation and a leading international development network. Sophie also contributes to policy-making and campaigning through her role as a YoungMinds Youth Activist. A graduate in Politics and International Relations, Sophie has used her skills and insights to advocate for youth mental health, international human rights, and not least, the importance of helping parents encumbered with both mental health issues and life challenges.
Following successful pilots of the Integrated Therapy and Advocacy (ITA) approach, Flourish has partnered with the Moat Foundation to establish a project in Ashford, Kent. The project will develop the ITA approach for helping disadvantaged parents, exploring a way of working which is strongly integrated with the local community, something which the Moat Foundation will facilitate. We are excited about this new project and thank Moat and other local stakeholders for their support. We also thank Moat for some initial funding.
As a result of BACP members backing a motion from Flourish’s Della Austin, the BACP have agreed to work with Flourish to develop approaches to engage highly-challenged, marginalised parents get the psychological and practical support they need. Flourish’s Integrated Therapy and Advocacy approach is an example of one such approach. We look forward to working with the BACP and interested BACP members on this project, an important way of creating more stable and nurturing families for our children and their emotional development.
Jasper was appointed to our Advisory Board earlier this year. He has much to offer Flourish, not only in terms of communications, but also in terms of his experience of third sector governance and of novel approaches to promoting community well-being, a key aspect of preventative mental health.
Jasper has a broad media expertise as a writer, magazine editor, radio producer for the BBC (Radio 4 and the World Service), short film maker, website builder and podcast producer. He has already helped us think through our developing media strategy and his further contributions will be very valuable as Flourish Network moves forward.
Kate is passionate about education in disadvantaged settings and has already been helping us better understand the education scene and its challenges and opportunities. A former teacher and deputy Head, Kate now has a regional role in the Department of Education. Her many connections and understanding of policy on the mental health of children and young people will prove to be increasingly valuable to Flourish.
David is currently an Associate Professor at Northeastern University London (formerly New College of the Humanities). He has taught at Leicester, Cambridge and London Universities. Besides his academic career in philosophy, David has worked in international development and consulted for the UN. His experience of the application of philosophy in the realms of ethics and politics is proving invaluable to Flourish’s development.
Rachael brings broad experience of counselling in disadvantaged communities and an appetite for developing new approaches. Harvey’s broad experience of talking therapies and his grasp of relevant philosophical concepts offers a further strengthening of the interplay between theory and practice.
Anthony Grayling is one of Britain’s best-known philosophers and has made many insightful contributions to the public debate about ethical and political matters. His input to the development of Flourish is eagerly anticipated.