Money and Mental Health Policy Institute charity

10/09/2026

Today is World Su***de Prevention Day.

We know just how closely financial difficulty is linked to su***de. People in problem debt are three times more likely to have considered su***de than people who are not in problem debt.

We want to help break that link between financial difficulty and su***de, and we know banks – with their unique level of insight into people’s finances – are well-placed to offer support.

Today we’re launching the Su***de Prevention Action Lab, with five major banks – Barclays UK, HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, Monzo and Nationwide UK – on board. Together we will test and evaluate new ways of helping people who might be at risk of su***de.

This initiative also has the backing of Samaritans and the Financial Conduct Authority, who will be represented on the steering group.

Our chair and founder Martin Lewis welcomes this collaboration. You can read the full quote from Martin on our website: https://www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/press-release/martin-lewis-charity-brings-together-five-major-banks-to-help-tackle-su***de

02/09/2026

If you’ve ever had a knock at the door from a bailiff, or a letter threatening a bailiff visit, we have some good news to share.

Changes announced by the government last week will give the Enforcement Conduct Board, the body that regulates the bailiff industry, new powers to ensure bailiffs comply with the rules.

We’ve been campaigning for this change for years – and it’s a very welcome step towards reducing the harms that people face from aggressive debt collection.

New data from Money Advice Trust underlines the importance of this change.

It shows that 1.7 million council tax debts were referred to bailiffs in England and Wales in 2025/26 – with over 150 councils increasing their use of bailiffs compared to the previous year.

No-one should be made to feel unsafe in their home or in their community – but, unfortunately, the psychological impact of a visit from a bailiff can be devastating.

In the words of one member of our Research Community, receiving a visit from a bailiff was “incredibly intrusive” and “[has] shrunk my world.”

People experiencing financial difficulty should be offered support and affordable ways to repay before enforcement action is considered.

28/08/2026

Great news – the government has just announced new plans to crack down on bad bailiff behaviour🎉

Currently bailiffs can break rules and cause huge distress for people in debt, because the industry’s regulator – the Enforcement Conduct Board – doesn’t have the powers it needs to clamp down on bad bailiff practice.

But new changes will give the ECB the power it needs to ensure bailiffs to comply with the rules!

The vast majority of StepChange Debt Charity
clients who experienced bailiff action said it negatively impacted both their mental (95%) and physical (91%) health and wellbeing, as well as their ability to get enough sleep (94%) and how safe they felt in their own home (91%). That underlines why these changes are so badly needed.

But this announcement is only the beginning. Now we are asking the government to move quickly in making these changes reality and to put an end to aggressive bailiff behaviour for good.

25/08/2026

“Recovering from mental illness often takes more than medication and psychotherapy (although that’s important too), but also having something meaningful to do in the day; somewhere to live; someone to love, and crucially, some money in our pockets to pay the bills and participate in society.”

Our latest blog looks at neighbourhood mental health centres - set to be introduced across England in the coming years - and how they could help to break the toxic cycle between money and mental health problems.

We want to see financial advice and support offered under the same roof as mental health care - that's the route to tackling the cycle of mental health problems and financial difficulty.

Read more in the blog here:

New Neighbourhood Mental Health Centres will transform mental health support. We look at the plan, funding and the role of money advice.

10/08/2026

The government has announced new rules cracking down on misleading discounts and subscription traps.

As our Chief Executive Helen Undy OBE notes, this is good news for people with mental health problems – but much more needs to be done, and these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unfair practices that make life difficult for consumers.

06/08/2026

A countdown clock telling you a sale is about to end. A warning that there are “only two left”. A message that five other people also have the same item in their basket.

These pressure selling tactics can create a sense of urgency, encouraging us to act now rather than giving us time to stop and think.

For people with mental health problems, that pressure can be particularly difficult to navigate. Online shopping can be a lifeline, especially at times when getting to the shops feels overwhelming or simply isn’t possible. But some of the features built into online shopping platforms can make it harder to stay in control of spending.

Symptoms like increased impulsivity or anxiety can make it more difficult to step away from a prompt saying you have to act now, or you might miss out. Problems with concentration or memory can also make it harder to weigh up a purchase or keep track of spending.

Our research found that 54% of people who had recently experienced a mental health problem felt that online shopping sites make it too easy to spend more than you can afford.

And the effects can last beyond the moment of purchase. Spending more than intended can add to financial worries, while a complicated returns or cancellation process can make it harder to put things right.

To help people stay in control, here’s we’d like to see:

- Strong enforcement against misleading scarcity and urgency claims
- More ways for customers to switch off sales nudges and set spending controls
- Optional cooling-off periods, alongside simple returns and cancellations

Online shopping should make life easier – not push people into spending money they may not have, or during times when they’re not well.

31/07/2026

💬 “Being part of the community… means I can turn when I was in poor mental health to make sure other people don’t face similar issues.”

Sharing your experience and insight helps us to change policy.

Joining our Research Community — contributing through surveys, focus groups and more — helps us make the case to politicians, regulators and service providers that change is necessary.

Together, we can break the link between financial difficulty and mental health problems 💜

You can watch the full film this snippet is from on our YouTube channel — or find out more about the Research Community on our website: www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/community

30/07/2026

Our Research Community members - in their own words - share their experience of joining and contributing to our work 💜

The Research Community is a group of over 5,000 people with lived experience of mental health problems. Their experience and insight forms the basis of all of our research and campaigns.

This video is from film with more from the interviews with the three Research Community members shown here — as well as interviews with our Chief Executive Helen Undy and our Founder Martin Lewis.

You can watch the full film on our YouTube channel, or find out more about the Research Community on our website.

29/07/2026

Our Research Community of over 5,000 people with mental health problems are at the very heart of our work 💜

So many of the campaigns we have fought and the policy ideas we have developed have come from discussions with or experience shared by members of the Research Community.

In this section of our film marking 10 years of Money and Mental Health, three Research Community members share their experience of the cycle of money and mental health problems. We’re hugely grateful for the time they took to appear in this film 💜

Lived experience will always be at the centre of what we do. As our Chair and Founder Martin Lewis says: “We wanted every policy we come up with to be steeped in lived experience… if you haven’t lived that life, you can’t know how it feels.”

If you have with experience of mental health problems and you’re interested in joining our Research Community, just take a look at our website: https.www.moneyandmentalhealth.org/community

28/07/2026

"I remember at the time, thinking 'Thank heavens I can still pay the bills. What on earth would I be doing if I couldn't?' I vowed at the time that I was going to do something about it."

Our Chair and Founder Martin Lewis talks about why he set up the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute - in the first part our new video marking ten years of research and impact.

In the full video, you can see more of Martin and our Chief Executive Helen Undy explaining what we do and how we work - as well as three members of our Research Community talking about their experiences.

You can find the full video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6JNnRzFfhs or on Martin's profile.