Will was a kind, gentle and loving young man who brightened the lives of his parents (Anne and Peter) and brother John, his girlfriend and many friends. He was due to sit his A Levels in Maths, Physics and Chemistry this summer and was planning to study Computer Science at university starting this autumn.

Sadly, Will had been troubled by anxiety and depression for some time. While he had recently made great progress in dealing with his challenges and had been in buoyant spirits over recent days and weeks, Will took his own life on April 10 2018.

Despite these desperately sad circumstances, Will's parents are tremendously grateful for the 18 wonderful years that they had with Will. They intend to honour Will’s memory in a way which reflects the care he showed towards others. Anne, Peter and John plan to establish a charity focused on understanding, developing and deploying treatments for anxiety and depression in young people.

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:

1. Further the understanding of the causes of anxiety and depression in young people, and identify opportunities for interventions that can address them effectively ;

2. Identify best practice interventions at an individual patient level and at a 'system' level. These may be complemented with new knowledge from research to develop new and enhanced treatments, policies and systems;

3. Accelerate the deployment of new and updated treatments through education, training and information for practitioners and wider society.

Our initial focus will be to identify a portfolio of opportunities to positively impact young people's mental health, and their feasibility. From this portfolio, we intend to select and seek to commission research, development and application projects that have the potential to make a real difference.