The 'MARCH' Network proposes that Assets for Resilient Communities lie at the heart of Mental Health (M-ARC-H) and is dedicated to advancing research into the impact of these assets in enhancing public mental health and wellbeing, preventing mental illness and supporting those living with mental health conditions. Specifically, it will advance our understanding of the impact of social, cultural and community assets including the arts, culture, heritage, libraries, parks, community gardens, allotments, leisure centres, volunteer associations, social clubs and community groups, of which there are an anticipated 1 million in the UK. The network will bring together a Disciplinary Expert Group of researchers with a Policy Group of major national policy bodies, a Patient Public Involvement Group of national mental health charities, and a Community Engagement Group of national organisations. Across three years, our network will unite research with policy and practice to tackle critical questions of research priorities, methods, and implementation in this field; understand and resolve barriers to mobilising community assets; and provide training and support to the next generation of researchers. Specifically, our network will address questions organised in two core work streams (WS): WS1. Cross-disciplinary research and challenges: (a) What evidence is there, from a cross-disciplinary perspective, for how and why community assets impact on public health and wellbeing and the lives of those living with mental health problems, and where are the gaps for future research? (b) How can we use a cross-disciplinary approach to provide meaningful data to different stakeholders and users? WS2. Equity of engagement and access innovation: (a) Who amongst the UK population, demographically and geographically, currently engages with these programmes and how does participation vary dependent on mental health? (b) What are the current barriers and enablers to engagement at an individual, organisational and policy level and how can we develop innovative approaches to enhance engagement, especially amongst the vulnerable? This research work will be complemented by a rich portfolio of impact, engagement and training activities (see 'Impact Summary'). This network aligns with strategic priorities of the AHRC and ESRC as well as having a secondary relevance to the priorities of the MRC (through its consideration of the role of community assets and social prescribing to support medical approaches to mental health), NERC (through its exploration of the impact of green spaces) and EPSRC (through its focus on the opportunities provided by technology for driving research forwards). It has also been designed in response to the Network Plus Research Agenda. In addition to the objectives already discussed in the prior Je-S section, it is responsive to many of the mental health challenges cited in the agenda. For example, the call specification noted that only 25% of people with mental health problems receive ongoing treatment. Whilst there are recognised economic and resource constraints with delivering sufficient mental health services, this Network proposes to focus on the role that existing community assets could play in providing support to a much wider range of people in the UK including those on waiting lists. As another example, the call specification raised that 70% of children and adolescents with mental health problems have not had appropriate interventions at an earlier age. This Network will involve working with policy makers and community organisations to see how research could help overcome barriers to access with the aim of engaging more young people and those who are hard to reach. Overall, the network will seek to understand and support future research into how community assets could be mobilised to encourage more resilient individuals and communities with a greater understanding of and capacity for self-management of mental health.

Our proposal explores how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the learning, development, health and wellbeing of vulnerable, socially-disadvantaged children (Early Years: 3-5yrs; Primary: 5-11yrs) in England by capturing their voices and experiences. Their families live with multiple uncertainties, stresses and vulnerabilities, making these children more susceptible to COVID-19 impacts and highlighting deep societal inequalities. Our interdisciplinary research aims to: 1) gather and critically evaluate the worldviews, perceptions and experiences of socially-disadvantaged children during the COVID-19 response; 2) draw learning from the above to support their involvement in 'recovery'; 3) build anticipatory resilient capital from their experiences in preparation for future social shocks, including pandemics. We focus on multicultural Bristol, where we have well-established relationships with practitioners/stakeholders in children's learning, health and wellbeing. This will ensure meaningful co-production with local, regional and national partners (nursery centres, schools, Bristol City Council and Action for Children) for immediate translation of our findings in policy and practice at different scales. Our approach gathers and exchanges critical 'data' quickly: using creative, participatory 'daylighting' methodologies that are child-focused and multi-channel. Our methods interweave socially-engaged arts practice with social science to capture nuances and trends in children's voices and ensure their views are included. We will co-develop outputs tailored to different stakeholder needs: a unique archive of children's voices to inform recovery strategies; a primary school book to support children and professionals; and an extensive evidence-base to inform policy and practice around adaptation to future social and ecological shocks.

Action on Neglect aims to ensure that practitioners such as teachers, nurses and social workers are supported to provide the best possible response to children who are experiencing neglect. Neglect is extremely damaging to children in the short and long term. The experience of neglect affects physical, cognitive and emotional development; friendships, behaviour and opportunities. Child neglect tends to attract less public attention than child sexual abuse, physical abuse and online exploitation. The safeguarding and child protection system in the UK also struggles to provide an effective and swift response to neglected children. All too often children have to endure chronic lack of physical and emotional care over long periods of time before they receive help. And all too often that help is too little, too late. Key to effective help for children is that their plight is spotted early and that something is done quickly to help them. We undertook a review of studies undertaken across the world that had gathered evidence about the ways in which neglected children's need for help is spotted by those in a position to help and what happens in the early stages of the involvement of the safeguarding and child protection system. This phase tends to be known as 'recognition and response'. We found that the people in the community have a good understanding of the signs of child neglect. We also found that there is evidence that professionals such as health visitors also have a good understanding of the signs of neglect and also of the kinds of things that can affect parenting. For example, parental substance misuse, the experience of domestic abuse and poor mental health can all contribute to children's physical and emotional needs being neglected. One of the key findings from our research was that the systems we have developed in England can actually get in the way of neglected children getting help promptly. Practitioners such as teachers and health visitors find that it is difficult to get a response to their concerns from children's social care and social workers find that they are caught up in a lot of procedural issues. One of our conclusions was that the system had lost sight of the child. On the basis of our research we, therefore, developed a more child-focused framework for practitioners built around three questions that a child can ask of us: 1. What do I need to grow and develop? 2. What do I need people to think about? 3. What do I need people to do? In the follow-up to our research we will work in partnership with Action for Children to bring together groups of practitioners and managers from all key professions to work with us to develop suggestions for more effective responses to neglected children. With these groups we shall analyse the way in which neglected children are currently helped and explore what can be done to improve recognition and early response. We shall work in three different local authorities so that we can look beyond specific local issues. We shall develop 'case studies' and, with the groups, trace children's pathways through the system. With the groups we shall develop a series of detailed worked examples setting out improved 'pathways to help'. Our project will also be supported by two advisory groups - one involving parents who have received help with their parenting and one involving young people who have received support as a result of neglect. These groups will give us some insight into the experiences of those who use services and, in particular, we would like their views on how the early response to the signs of problems could be improved. On the basis of all this work we will produce a pack: Action on Neglect. The pack will set out details of feasible and cost-effective blueprints for improved routes to services for neglected children and their families. We shall organise events to ensure that our findings are heard more widely by those in a position to improve services.