About us

The William Templeton Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health (YPMH) is a charitable foundation working to improve the lives of young people by facilitating innovative approaches to resolve mental health conditions.

YPMH was established in memory of Will Templeton, by his parents Anne and Peter, and his brother John. The family’s aspiration is to enable the ‘joining-up’ of excellent research and practice across the many fields associated with young people’s mental health to improve prevention, identification, diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as depression and anxiety. About Will…

Our vision and mission

We are working towards a better future for young people, where mental health problems are significantly reduced in prevalence and severity.

Our mission is to:

  • Reduce the number of young people who experience mental health problems, particularly anxiety and depression,
  • Help young people enter adulthood with greater resilience to mental health conditions, and thereby
  • Reduce the number of young people who take their own lives.

We strive to help build a future where:

  • The pathways and mechanisms of key mental health disorders, especially depression and anxiety, are understood and widely applied to innovations in practice and policy.
  • Knowledge and skills for protecting and nurturing mental health are available to young people and their families, and to practitioners.
  • Healthcare policy and practice address the ‘whole self’ at the earliest appropriate points in the development cycle of mental health conditions.

Find out how we work to achieve these aims…

Our leadership team

The William Templeton Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health is led by William’s father, Peter. Peter has many years’ experience of applying new knowledge and technologies to address complex needs. For the past 15 years, Peter led a Cambridge University knowledge transfer company which applies research from the University’s Institute for Manufacturing to industry, governments and universities globally. Under Peter’s leadership, the company applied research to real-world problems, demonstrated high levels of impact, and informed research going forward. The company progressed from a grant-funded start-up to become commercially self-sufficient and has gifted over £4 million to fund research at the Institute. Peter is responsible to trustees with expertise in medical practice, innovation, and family and commercial law. 

Follow us on social media: Facebook at facebook.com/ypmh.org, and Twitter @foundation_ypmh

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