In the frame to finish £65m mental health centre

The building of a centre providing research and better mental health services for children and young people had a celebratory ‘topping out’ ceremony attended by youngsters who helped design the building.

The event marks the completion of the frame for the £65million Pears Maudsley building.

The Pears Maudsley Centre for Children and Young People is due to open in Denmark Hill in 2023 and will provide treatment to young people with a range of conditions, from eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder, to anxiety, ADHD, autism and trauma.

The centre is the result of a partnership between South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College London and the Maudsley Charity.

Shitij Kapur, President and Principal of King’s College London, David Bradley, chief executive, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Rebecca Gray, chief executive of Maudsley Charity and Hector McAlpine, executive partner at Sir Robert McAlpine, part of the IHP partnership on the stage and young person Jasmin and Ed Tidmarsh, works manager, levelling the ceremonial concrete.

It is hoped it will significantly speed up the time taken to bring research breakthroughs into clinical treatment.

The centre is being built by Integrated Health Projects, an alliance between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine.

Trust chairman, Sir Norman Lamb, said: “It is fantastic to see this unique building taking shape, giving an insight into the life-changing facility it is going to become.

“The centre will support our local South London community, which has some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country, together with specialist national children’s mental health services that are available to everyone in England.”