APP January 2026 Newsletter
New year, new fundraising challenges
If you need some motivation to keep up with your new year’s resolution, or you just fancy taking on a challenge this year, we have loads of opportunities for you to get involved with throughout 2026!
We already have more than 50 fundraisers signed up to take part in challenges this year, and we want to make it our biggest and most exciting fundraising year ever!
Join #TeamAPP and be part of our amazing fundraising community.
For runners, we have places available in the iconic Great North Run in September, the Great Birmingham 10k on 3rd May, the picturesque Royal Parks Half in October, Northern Ireland’s amazing Hillsborough running festival in July, or help us celebrate the opening of the UK’s newest MBU in Chester by taking on a 10k or half marathon in the historic city.
Or perhaps you could run to mark International Women’s Day on 8th March by joining an all female 5 or 10k in London or Manchester as part of the Women’s Run Series.
If none of these are quite right for you, don’t worry! We can access places in hundreds of other events all over the country - find the one for you here or email Fliss to find out more.
Swimmers - you could be part of the Great North Swim in beautiful Lake Windermere this June - with distances ranging from 0.5miles to 10km, there’s something for everyone. Contact Fliss for more details on the different distances.
Walkers - How about taking part in one of Scotland’s amazing Kiltwalk events?
Or perhaps 2026 is the year you take on an epic ultra walk challenge? APP is now registered with UltraChallenge so you can access some incredible events like the Jurassic Coast 100k walk, London to Brighton, the Lake District or or North Yorks Ultra Walks… Find out more about all these and more here (select APP as your charity when you register). Plus sign up before the end of the month using the code HELLO2026 and you’ll receive 50% off the registration fee.
Something different? Fancy an obstacle course this year? We can get places in fabulous inflatable obstacle courses right across the UK; as well as Toughmudders for those looking for an even bigger challenge!
Or for the bravest, we can even organise bungee jumps and skydives! Get in touch with Fliss for more info.
Our aim for 2026 is to have our highest number of Miles for Mums and Babies participants ever - so whether you’re a veteran of Miles for Mums and Babies, or if this would be your first time, we want you on board!
With Miles for Mums and Babies, we want to raise awareness of the distance many families have to travel to receive support when they are ill.
You choose your own challenge - pick a number of miles that means something to you - whether that’s the distance from your home to your nearest MBU, the number of MBUs in the country, or the miles from the most northerly MBU in the UK to the most southerly, or just a nice round number - whatever you want - then you aim to cover that number of miles through running, walking, swimming or cycling over a certain time period. You can do it alone or as a family, or as a team of work colleagues or friends.
You could aim to walk 1000 miles this year, run a mile a day in May, swim 20 miles in a week or cycle the distance between two MBUs. Or you could complete your miles in a totally different way. In the past we’ve had paddleboarders, toddlers and even rollerskaters - maybe you’re a climber, a dancer or a kayaker?
Contact Fliss to receive your free Miles for Mums and Babies info pack and start making plans for your challenge today!
If perhaps taking on a challenge isn’t something you can commit to in 2026, we’d still love you to join our cheer team! On April 26th we’ll have our biggest ever team of runners taking part in the world famous London Marathon, and we need you to help us cheer them on the big day!
Plus we have runners taking part in the Manchester Marathon on 19th April, Chester Half on 17th May and the Bath Half on 15th March and we need supporters for all of them too! Even if you can just spare half an hour or so on the day, your support could make all the difference and help our runners get to that finish line, and being on the sidelines for these events is so inspiring and joyful!
Email Fliss for more info on how to get involved.
A big thank you to Olly for adding APP branding to his amazing racing kart - a completely new way to raise awareness!
Olly’s partner Hannah had PP after the birth of their baby and they decided this would be a good way to reach new people. Hannah says:
‘I’m so proud that he is raising awareness of this illness as when I got ill with it, none of my family and friends had heard of it. So we are big believers in spreading as much awareness as possible for postpartum psychosis.’
You can follow Olly on Instagram @ollymoss_44
Thank you!
Roll and Krumb
A big thank you to APP volunteer Iqra for donating 10% of the profits from her new cinnamon roll baking business to APP - helping to raise both funds and awareness.
You can read more about Iqra’s story here, and check out her incredible looking creations @rollandkrumb on Instagram.
We know January can be a tricky time for finances, so we’ve compiled a list of ways you can support APP without spending a single penny! Check out all the ideas here, and let us know if you decide to try any of them out.
One way to support us for free, and is also an activity that might help you with a post Christmas clear up, is to get involved with recycling for APP. Recycling for Good Causes will collect unwanted or broken items including jewellery, watches, any currency, old mobile phones, old cameras, stamps and electrical gadgets such as sat-navs, Ipods, MP3 players, games consoles, games & accessories… They’ll send you a free recycling sack, and pick it up for free too. An APP staff member filled a couple of sacks last year and raised some much needed funds.
We are recruiting: join our team in the North West
We're looking for a Peer Support Facilitator to work across two innovative collaborative projects in the North West region: with Cheshire & Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWPFT) providing peer support to inpatients at Seren Lodge, the new Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) in Chester; and with Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT) providing peer support at the Ribbemere Mother and Baby Unit (MBU) in Chorley as well as in the community in Lancashire and South Cumbria.
This is a 4 day per week role with time split between two sites:
- Seren Lodge MBU in Chester, supporting women one-to-one and through small group activities; talking to partners and families of women during the acute illness phase and signposting to APP’s online support, community forum, and information.
- Our Lancashire and South Cumbria project, supporting women and family members at Ribblemere on discharge from the ward, and with the specialist community perinatal teams across Lancashire & South Cumbria, which may include support in pregnancy for women at risk of PP. The Peer Support Facilitator will also arrange cafe groups for recovering and recovered women with experience of PP in the region.
We’re also looking for casual peer support worker(s) with lived experience of postpartum psychosis to provide peer support to women and families affected by PP in the North West region. There are more details about both roles on our website here: https://www.app-network.org/about-us/jobs/ . The closing date for applications is 1st February 2026.
On Saturday 31st January we are holding a peer support volunteer training day in Chester. If you’re interested in joining our volunteer team or are considering applying for our vacancies in the North West region, we would love to talk to you about the face to face training day on 31st January. For more details please email jenny@app-network.org.
Campaign update: Mother and Baby Unit for Northern Ireland
We are nearing the end of the process to determine if an interim in-patient Mother and Baby Unit is a possibility. Our determination for a permanent solution remains solid. - says Mike Nesbitt, Northern Ireland Health Minister.
Action on Postpartum Psychosis and partners met with the NI Health Minister again this month to discuss urgent support for mothers experiencing postpartum psychosis and the importance of dedicated in-patient care for mothers and babies. This is an important step towards ensuring families get the specialist care they urgently need.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK without a Mother and Baby Unit (MBU). Mums admitted to general psychiatric wards are separated from their babies, which can delay recovery and impact family bonding. APP has campaigned for MBUs for over 10 years. Research shows mothers recover faster, feel safer, and gain confidence when treated in an MBU.
The meeting included Dr Jo Black, Perinatal Psychiatrist (Devon Partnership NHS Trust and MBU), Dr Jess Heron, CEO (APP), Liz Morrison, NI Media Consultant (APP), and representatives from the Maternal Mental Health Alliance (MMHA), Women’s Resource and Development Agency (WRDA) and Aware NI.
Our campaigning for a Mother and Baby Unit in NI continues. Thank you to everyone who has shared their stories and helped raise awareness so far.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by postpartum psychosis, now or many years ago, and would like support or to join our Lived Experience community, including our NI group, email ellie@app-network.org for more information.
PP and diagnosis - Action on Postpartum Psychosis needs your help
An international panel of women's mental health experts has issued a call for postpartum psychosis (PP) to be properly recognised in diagnosis classification manuals. Professor Veerle Bergink of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Erasmus University in Rotterdam led a panel of prominent PP academics, including APP's Professor Ian Jones and Trustee Clare Dolman, in developing a consensus statement about PP diagnosis.
The team has spent several years pulling together clinical and biological evidence, and consulting patient groups, to show that postpartum psychosis deserves recognition as an official diagnosis. Although the term is used widely by clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience, currently, diagnostic manuals force doctors to classify postpartum psychosis under a range of different names in different subsections of the classification manual, leading to confusion for patients, clinicians and researchers alike.
For academics, clinicians and those with personal experience, use of the term ‘postpartum psychosis’ is essential in order to differentiate the different treatment, risk factors, symptoms and expected outcomes compared to psychosis or bipolar that occurs at other times.
APP will be putting together evidence that the current system is confusing for both patients and clinicians - and hindering high quality research into PP.
If accepted by the team which oversees the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in the US, could lead to improvements in patient care and research quality globally.
You can read the expert committee’s consensus statement here.
If you, or your family, has been affected by the issue of diagnosis, you can share your stories by joining a discussion on our forum.
If you have a story you would like to share with us about how diagnosis or confusion around diagnosis impacted your care, you can get in touch via email too. Please include DSM in the subject line of your email and send to app@app-network.org
National call for evidence to help shape the future of maternity and neonatal care in England
Your voice matters. And right now, it can help shape the future of maternity and neonatal care in England.
Baroness Amos has launched a national Call for Evidence, inviting women, families and support networks to share their real experiences of maternity and neonatal services. These responses will directly inform the findings and recommendations of the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.
Why is this so important?
Policies, standards, and improvements are strongest when they hear and listen to lived experience. Numbers and data tell part of the story, but personal accounts reveal where care and support works, where it falls short, and where change is urgently needed. Whether your experience was positive, challenging, or somewhere in between, it all holds value, and we’d like postpartum psychosis experiences to be represented in the data.
This Call for Evidence is open for eight weeks, from 20th January to 17th March 2026, and there are two surveys:
- One for women and people who have been pregnant to share their own experiences of maternity and neonatal care
- One for partners, fathers, family members, friends, or others who supported someone through pregnancy and birth
You must be aged 16 or over to respond. If you are under 16, you can still take part with someone who is 16 or over.
If you or someone you know has been affected by maternity or neonatal services, please consider taking the time to respond. And if you work in health, policy, advocacy, or leadership, please help amplify this call for evidence.
This is a real opportunity to be heard and help shape better and safer care and support for future families.
Get involved here: https://www.matneoinv.org.uk/call-for-evidence/
APP is seeking trustees!
Help transform care for families affected by postpartum psychosis. With demand for our services growing and an ambitious five-year plan in development, we are seeking trustees to strengthen and diversify our Board.
We are seeking trustees who share our commitment to improving the lives of women and families affected by postpartum psychosis and preventing maternal suicides. You do not need previous board experience. APP is committed to building a Board that reflects the diverse communities we support. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and are particularly seeking increased representation from Black and Asian backgrounds. We would like to hear from senior clinicians/academics: with a special interest in postpartum psychosis research or care, with experience as a Clinical Lead for a Mother and Baby Unit and/or of national policy development. We would also like to hear from people with skills in: national health policy/service development; philanthropy/grant-giving; accounting and finance; charity law; diversity and inclusion; scaling global health initiatives; and digital innovation/cyber-security. Lived experience of postpartum psychosis is warmly welcomed, but not a requirement for the trustee role.
To express interest or arrange an informal conversation with the Acting Chair (Anna Jones), Vice Chair (Professor Ian Jones) and CEO (Dr Jess Heron) please email: Emma Harvey (PA to the CEO): emma@app-network.org. Please include a brief CV/bio and a short note about: your background, why you are interested in supporting APP and any particular skills or perspectives you would bring.
Please get in touch by 12th February 2026. For more information, visit: https://www.app-network.org/trustee-recruitment/
Dates for your diary
APP London virtual café group meet up, Tuesday 27th January
APP Sussex and Hampshire face to face café group meet up in Winchester, Saturday 24th January
APP Birmingham face to face café group meet up, Friday 30th January
APP Manchester face to face café group meet up, Friday 30th January
APP North East face to face café group meet up in Newcastle, Saturday 31st January
APP Muslim women’s virtual café group meet up, Thursday 5th February
APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Blackburn, Friday 6th February
APP South Wales face to face café group meet up, Saturday 7th February
APP Lancashire and south Cumbria virtual café group meet up, Monday 9th February
APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Lancaster, Friday 6th February
APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Blackpool, Friday 13th February
APP dads and co-parents virtual café group meet up, Wednesday 18th February
APP Black women’s virtual café group meet up, Friday 20th February
APP Lancashire and south Cumbria face to face café group meet up in Preston, Friday 20th February
APP Northern Ireland face to face café group meet up in Belfast, Saturday 21st February
APP London face to face café group meet up, Saturday 28th February
APP peer support virtual café group meet up - mental health difficulties after postpartum psychosis, Wednesday , Friday 4th March
APP Scotland face to face café group meet up in Edinburgh, Saturday 7th March
APP North Wales face to face café group meet up, Saturday 21st March
Contact information for all APP café groups is available here.
Conferences and events
From Harm to Hope: the 11th annual Self Harm and Suicide Prevention festival, Friday 27th February
Annual conference run by Harmless – the national centre of excellence for self harm and suicide prevention. The day in Nottingham will feature a range of expert speakers and leading academics. Booking information here.
Black Maternal Health Conference UK 2026, Friday 20th March
In person and online conference run by The Motherhood Group, bringing together mothers, healthcare professionals, VCSEs, organisations, policymakers, students and partners from across the UK. More details and booking information here.
Suicide&Co’s sector summit, Wednesday 22nd April
In-person day in Westminter for professionals working with individuals bereaved by suicide. More details and booking information here.
If you would like to advertise your event here, please get in touch: app@app-network.org.