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Our history

The Meriden Family Programme was launched in 1998 when there was a drive within the West Midlands to introduce evidence based interventions into health care.

Originally funded from 1998 to 2004 through central West Midlands regional funding, Meriden worked closely with all the mental health provider trusts within the West Midlands region in a comprehensive programme of training and implementation. Subsequent funding for 2004 – 2007 was provided by several of those Trusts, demonstrating their commitment to ensuring that family work was available locally and embedded within the organisational infrastructures.

From April 2007 as the reputation of the Programme grew, many other services wished to benefit from the experience and expertise built up in the Programme, and Meriden received an increasing number of requests for training and organisational development at a national and international level. The current funding for the Programme comes from a range of sources including Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust and other health and social care organisations at a national and international level. Click here to see examples of our international work.

Why are we called the Meriden Family Programme?

The Meriden Family Programme takes its name from the village of Meriden which is in the Solihull borough of the West Midlands in England, United Kingdom. The village claims to be at the very centre of England and is traditionally known as the “Heart of England”.

As well as highlighting the view that families should be placed at the heart of mental health care, the name also reflects the idea that the Meriden Family Programme is based on a cascade model where central training and ideas are disseminated out from the core to other parts of England, the United Kingdom and other countries across the world.