One year on…
It’s hard to believe it’s now a year since Judi died. Despite the passing of time she’s as vivid as ever in our hearts and memories. For those who knew and loved her we’re slowly adapting to the gaping hole she’s left behind.
We’re absolutely delighted with how much the Judi Meadows Memorial Fund has achieved in our first year as we’ve met our first phase ambitions.
We’re raised a phenomenal £75,000. The most significant contribution to this was the hugely successful art auction in November 2010. We are also very grateful to the McPin Foundation for their donation of £20,000, the Boltini Trust for £10,000 and three personal donations of over £1,000 each. Shortly, we expect to receive our Gift Aid rebate of £8,000 from HMRC, thus taking our total to £83,000. Thank you once again to all our supporters.
We are now formally joined with the McPin Foundation – a small family trust that exists to provide funding to small not-for-profit organisations working to improve mental well-being. Please see About the Memorial Fund for further information.
Over the last months, we have met with a wide range of professionals within the world of mental health and tinnitus. We are grateful for those we have shared their knowledge and contacts with us. Our scoping work includes the completion of a literature review of tinnitus and suicide kindly completed by Dr Andrew Tylee and Dr Elizabeth Barley at the Institute of Psychiatry.
On the basis of the conversations we have had, and our investigations, we have prepared a research specification which we are issuing as an open tender. The deadline for applications is 31 July 2010.
In summary, we are looking for robust research proposals that are:
- Relevant to Judi’s experience (tinnitus, depression, suicide, treated in primary care)
- Where there’s a need (and one that is unlikely to be satisfied by other stakeholders)
- Where we can affect most change with the money/time that is available. This includes acting as a catalyst to stimulate the interest of others
The core requirements for any research programme are that:
- There must be an interest in, and track record of, using research to influence policy and practice
- There must be a commitment to provide regular updates (6 monthly)
- That there will be broad accountability measures put in place (including for example peer involvement)
- That the JMMF funding must comprise at least 50% of total funds ( so that JMMF to the majority/controlling funder)
The specification is being promoted through the relevant academic and clinical channels that we have identified, and via the contacts and networks that we have made.
We look forward to being able to announce our successful researcher in August 2010 and the results of the research in the summer of 2011. It is our intention to undertake additional fundraising in 2010-11 to enable us to support further research programmes into the future.