Lancaster University in Lancashire has been awarded £10.69 million (about £11m) by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to lead a major five-year Mental Health Research Group (MHRG) aimed at improving mental health and addiction support across Lancashire and South Cumbria. The initiative focuses on changing how care is delivered to residents who are often underserved by traditional medical services.
The funding, announced on 27 January 2026, is part of a wider NIHR investment to develop MHRGs across England. Researchers will focus on better support for people living with severe mental illness, addiction, and those at risk of suicide, with the work deliberately based in communities rather than confined to hospital settings.
The community-based approach is designed to reach people in high-need areas such as Blackpool, which the Lancaster announcement notes has one of the highest rates in England for deaths linked to addiction and suicide and other indicators of poor mental health.
The programme brings together academic partners, including the University of Manchester and King’s College London, and is expected to work with local services and education providers. Local further education colleges — such as Lancaster & Morecambe College and Blackpool and The Fylde College — are named as important stakeholders (via partnerships such as the Morecambe Bay Curriculum) whose student wellbeing frameworks and vocational health training may be influenced by the research; these colleges are not listed as direct grant recipients.
The MHRG at Lancaster is jointly led by Dr Jasper Palmier-Claus (Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology) and Professor Steven Jones (Professor of Clinical Psychology). Lancaster University noted that more than 13,000 people in Lancashire and South Cumbria have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness, a key local statistic that underpins the award. Dr Palmier-Claus said: “This award will be fantastic for addressing unmet complex mental health needs in underserved groups in the northwest and in creating a step change in mental health research quality and reach in this region.”
