Reasons to be Cheerful secures $30,000 for mental health reporting

Reasons to be Cheerful, a digital publication dedicated to solutions journalism received $30,000 in funding from the Wellcome trust to produce “The Great Recovery,” (https://reasonstobecheerful.world/collection/positive-shifts-in-mental-health/) a reporting project examining “how a surge in innovation, outreach, access and attention to equity is improving [U.S.] mental health systems.” The grant covers costs for story production and promotion, as well as subsequent impact tracking. The series of seven stories ran over the course of two weeks between August and September. The proposal to funders emphasized the need to shift the incomplete narrative about “countries across the world buckling under the weight of a mental health crisis,” by telling a fuller story that includes viable responses. In supporting this work, the trust recognized that stories of positive changes are lacking in the broader media narrative about mental health system failures.