Our work
Mental health problems affect 1 in 4 people in the UK, yet investment in mental health research remains low.
Society needs greater investment in high-quality research, so we can create care and services based on the expertise of those affected by mental health issues.
Doing so increases the chance that this money will be well spent, and that research will have a real-world, positive impact.
And mental health research doesn’t just cover medication – it can include therapies, peer support and exploring innovative new ways to improve lives, such as virtual reality. This means the more high-quality research, shaped by those with lived experience, that’s done, the more people will be empowered to find what works for them.
Lived experience shapes everything we do.
Our team works with researchers and organisations (e.g. universities, the NHS & grassroots organisations) to lead the way in putting mental health lived experience at the heart of research.
We provide:
- Research Conducting robust, innovative health and social care research, with specialist skills in peer research
- Evaluation Helping organisations monitor and evaluate the impact they are having
- Public involvement Advising on, and providing, involvement strategies, including advisory groups and peer review panels and involving young people
- Influencing Ensuring the voices of people affected by mental health issues are at the centre of key conversations
- Hosting Providing services to individuals and organisations so they can deliver their agenda for mental health without having to set up a charity of their own
- Training We provide training on how to approach peer research, public involvement, co-production and more, plus mentoring and support
Involving people with lived experience of mental health issues and their families in research is the right thing to do.
We have also found that doing so can:
- Ensure research addresses relevant questions which have the greatest impact on people’s lives
- Help researchers engage positively and ethically with participants
- Challenge researchers’ assumptions in their study design & data interpretation
- Make study findings accessible and engaging for more people
- Empower people with experience of mental health issues
- Diversify the experiences informing the research agenda and methodologies
Our work aims to benefit both the research sector, through knowledge and capacity building, and people with lived experience of mental health issues, along with their families and wider communities.
We care about the wellbeing of everyone we work with and carry out regular reflective practice to make sure our researchers and experts from experience are supported and feel empowered.
McPin was established in 2007 by Dr Nick McNally and Dr Vanessa Pinfold (“McPin”) as a small grant-giving family foundation.
In 2012, we refocussed to become a mental health research organisation with an emphasis on promoting lived experience-focussed research.
From April 2013 we were joined by researchers from the Rethink Mental Illness Research Team, and have continued to grow and seek out relevant collaborations.
Our speakers
We have a passionate, knowledgeable team, with experience spanning the sector. Below is a brief introduction to our senior leadership team.
Dr Vanessa Pinfold (She/Her)
Co-Founder & Research Director
Tanya Mackay (She/Her)
Head of Research and Involvement
Clare Walsby (She/Her)
Senior Operations Manager
Dr Vanessa Pinfold (She/Her)
Co-Founder & Research Director
Vanessa has worked in mental health research for over 25 years, and has published studies on stigma and discrimination, families and carers, experiences of the mental health system, wellbeing networks and co-production in mental health research.
She is now prioritising developing peer research methods through collaborative or co-production approaches.
Vanessa currently chairs the Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders and is co-founder and research director at McPin, responsible for overseeing the work of the charity.
She previously worked at Rethink Mental Illness and the KCL IOPPN and has a PhD from University of Nottingham.
Tanya Mackay (She/Her)
Head of Research and Involvement
Tanya joined McPin in 2019 after moving to the UK from Australia. Her previous work was university-based with a focus on co-design in research and advocacy. Tanya has been involved in developing policy in the mental health space and has an interest in vicarious trauma for people in support roles and research. She hopes to contribute to improving support for people in these positions, and runs reflective practice sessions at McPin. She has a First-Class Honours degree in social work and uses her practice knowledge of strengths-based and narrative approaches, as well as her lived experience as both a service user and carer, to inform her work.
Clare Walsby (She/Her)
Senior Operations Manager
Since arriving in 2019, Clare has developed her skills to give everyone at McPin kind, fair and respectful operational and wellbeing support. Clare finds her work experience in dance, theatre, education and administration to be a helpful and unique platform for working in Ops. Her work at an educational charity for women, where she supported students to overcome their fear of exams and provide equitable spaces for them to achieve, ignited a passion for using admin for good! Clare really values being part of the team that supports everyone at McPin to do their work and hopes to continue finding ways to improve and provide even better support.
Contact us
For all press and comms enquiries please get in touch with our Communications Team below
Ali has worked in library science, theatre and the arts, and conservation delivering communication strategies and creating content. She has championed person-led storytelling for print and online platforms. New to the sector, she joined McPin in June 2022 as the communications manager.
Ali has led on several major projects over the last 15 years (large-scale trade shows, magazine redesigns, website projects, company rebrands) but has always returned to her love of helping people tell their stories. She hopes to draw on her diverse communications background to grow and engage McPin’s audiences.
Katherine has spent most of the last decade creating features, blogs, tweets, podcasts – and just about anything else that could reasonably constitute content – for a range of organisations. She joined McPin as a Senior Research Communicator in April 2021.
Having worked and volunteered in sectors ranging from sex positivity to tech, social housing and homelessness, Katherine is passionate about empowering people to tell their stories. She hopes to build on this while at McPin, helping to drive positive change in mental health through both established and emerging platforms.
