The Fullscope Story

We are often asked about the origin of Fullscope, and how our collaborative came together. Here is our story (in a nutshell). 

Fullscope was formed in 2017 when funders ARM Holdings, along with Norfolk and Norwich Festival Bridge, challenged a group of like-minded charities they were funding to come together to think about how to do things differently for children and young people at risk of poor mental health.  

The funding allowed the (then) informal group to invest time and develop a consensus position on which areas could be improved by a cooperative and integrated approach. Fullscope worked with ARM Holdings to deliver two events to promote the initiative and generate local interest, with representation from local business, the charity sector, leaders, experts and practitioners from the public sector auxiliary services including schools and our universities, and notable individuals from civic society to discuss and explore next steps in addressing this critical issue affecting young people.  Young people were also represented at the events both as participants and through film and audio. The events attracted several hundred attendees and were widely covered in the press. 

Well-being workshop with Centre 33 Staff © Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination, 2020

During 2018, the seven partners worked to turn their shared vision into a coherent plan, working together and with local consultancy Taproot to review the current landscape for both children and young people’s mental health and consortia models, coproducing a successful application to National Lottery Fund in 2019. The Fullscope consortium in its current format – CPSL Mind, Centre 33, YMCA Trinity Group, Blue Smile, The Kite Trust, Arts and Minds, and Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination – was born. 

Since 2019 the world, and Fullscope, has changed. Beyond our original Lottery programme, we have extended the reach of the Fullscope partnerships to work alongside other local providers including Young People’s Counselling Service, The Acorn Project, Stars and Little Miracles on distinct ‘Fullscope Plus’ projects, on therapeutic arts projects which addressed the initial challenges of children in lockdown through to bespoke programmes of work which seek to address the ongoing and escalating mental health needs of children and young people in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.