Thanks to a legacy gift from University alumna Menda Lambrinudi, the School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s has initiated a project to create an immersive space to research and treat mental health problems, which will benefit students and local communities alike.

Northern Ireland has the highest suicide rate in the UK; levels of mental health illness among the population here are 20-25 per cent higher on average, when compared to the rest of the UK.

The School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work at Queen’s, which was recognised with the award of a prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Shared Education in November 2019, is committed to multidisciplinary work that addresses local and global challenges.

The Queen’s Foundation, the charity through which all philanthropic gifts to the University are channelled, was delighted to receive over £230,000 from Ms Lambrinudi's estate. Menda completed a Certificate in Psychiatric Studies at Queen’s which enabled her to fulfil her ambition to be a social worker, counsellor and psychiatrist, before finding employment at St George’s Hospital and St Guy’s Hospital, London.

In her will, Menda supported 13 charities, including those educational institutions that had supported her career progression.

Her extraordinary gift has put into action plans for an immersive space to research and treat mental health problems for students, and local communities. Entitled ‘The Immersive Technologies and Digital Mental Health Network’, it will be a trans-disciplinary partnership of academics, service providers, practitioners and technology companies focusing on therapeutic and pedagogical advances in mental health and social care, using innovative digital technologies.

Thanks to this amazing legacy gift from Menda, our researchers are able to create a dedicated space to research, understand, and treat the increasingly important area of mental health illness – an area which desperately needs our focus at this time.