Mental health service centre for young people one step closer to opening

5 April 2022 Yann Tear

The building of a centre providing world-class 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 £65 million Pears Maudsley building, which aims to meet an increased need for mental health provision for children and young people.

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, which aims to transform child and adolescent mental health care through a unique collaboration between world-leading academics and clinicians.

Professor Shitij Kapur, President and Principal of King’s College London (at the microphone), David Bradley, chief executive, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (just behind him), Rebecca Gray, chief executive of Maudsley Charity and Hector McAlpine, executive partner at Sir Robert McAlpine, part of the IHP partnership on the stage (standing next to Rebecca) 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.”

Pictured top: An artist’s impression of what the centre will look like