CHIMO waS set up in response to the crisis in young people’s mental health
With statutory mental health services out of reach or unsuitable for many young people, we believe a change in prescription is needed.
Our vision is for community-based, social prescriptions to become an integral part of the support options available to young people.
We invest in a portfolio of charities that harness the therapeutic powers of sport, nature and art to empower young people to understand and manage their mental wellbeing.
We support our charity partners to develop their programmes, expand their reach, evidence their impact and share best practice.
Our mission is to restore hope and purpose to young people struggling with poor mental health.
Watch the Chimo film
WHY young people’s
mental health?
The crisis in young people’s mental health is alarming.
The rate of probable mental health disorders among young people in the UK has more than doubled in 5 years.
Many young people struggle to engage with traditional mental health treatments.
We support the development of non-clinical forms of community support knows as social prescriptions, which use sport, nature or the arts to deliver holistic mental health support.
Our goal is to restore hope and purpose to disconnected young people and put them back on a path to a healthy and productive future
FIND OUT MORE
WHAT ARE SOCIAL PRESCRIPTIONS?
There is no silver bullet to mental health.
Talking therapies and medication are traditional first lines of treatment but don’t work for everyone.
This creates an opportunity for an alternative approach.
Non-clinical forms of community support can have a huge benefit on people’s health and wellbeing.
These forms of support are known as social prescriptions.
The NHS has put social prescribing at the heart of its long term plan.
FIND OUT MORE
What we fund
We invest in charities that deliver holisitic mental health support to young people by harnessing the therapeutic powers of the arts, sport and nature to deliver therapy that doesn’t feel like therapy.
Our aim is to provide sustainable funding to a select portfolio of charities.
The purpose of our funding is to encourage and enable our charities to do more.
We want to create a community of best practice amongst our portfolio of charities and encourage them to collaborate with each other.
FIND OUT MORE
CHARITY PARTNERS
We have invested £1.4 million into 16 charities in our first three years.
Our charity partners support thousands of young people from diverse backgrounds from across the country with a wide range of mental health issues.
We prioritise charities that:
- use the arts, sport or nature to deliver holistic mental health support to young people;
-
can evidence their impact;
- have the ambition and capability to expand their reach;
- are prepared to share best practice with other charities in the Chimo portfolio.
Our next grant giving round will be in early 2026.
FIND OUT MORE
WHO WE ARE
Our trustees bring together different experiences from careers in mental healthcare, investment, business, politics and the charitable sector into a shared vision to grow the depth and breadth of support available to young people experiencing mental health challenges in the UK.
FIND OUT MORE
Support US
If, like us, you are struck by the crisis in young people’s mental health and want to support our work, please make a donation.
FIND OUT MORE
The word ‘Chimo’ is believed to mean a “special friend for people in need” in the ancient language of the Inuit people of Northern Canada.
It is said that when the Inuit would greet each other with the word ‘Chimo’ they would simultaneously circle their hearts with their left hands.
