Alex Goodfellow, External Affairs Officer, Money and Mental Health

Introducing: Alex Goodfellow

12 December 2024

  • Alex has recently started working as an External Affairs Officer at Money and Mental Health.
  • In this role, she’ll be focusing on our media and parliamentary outreach, as well as working closely with members of our lived experience Research Community to share their stories.
  • To help Alex and the Money and Mental Health team to bring about change, please consider joining our Research Community.

I recently started working at Money and Mental Health in a role that feels exciting and important in equal measure. 

Money and Mental Health’s work is needed now more than ever. In the wake of the cost of living crisis and spiralling mental ill health, it is clear that financial difficulties and mental health problems are intimately linked. Periods of mental ill health can be overwhelming and isolating. Similarly, financial difficulties, whether sudden or built up over time, can be extremely distressing. 

So it’s vital that there’s a joined-up approach when addressing money and mental health problems, for example, by ensuring that everyone using mental health services is routinely offered money advice, as outlined in our five steps for the next government, published before the election.

Amplifying the voices of our Research Community

Our Research Community, made up of thousands of people with experience of mental health problems, underpins all of the charity’s work and informs our conversations with journalists and parliamentarians. 

A key part of my role will be to help share the stories of people with lived experience. Whilst statistics are essential in showing the scale of the vicious cycle between mental health problems and financial difficulty, a story is often the most powerful way of connecting with people’s humanity and appealing for reform. 

A bit about me

At university, I studied Politics and Modern History, which confirmed the importance of working towards a more equitable and understanding society. After my studies, I joined a communications agency and worked across a range of sectors including law, property and healthcare, before joining Money and Mental Health in the last few weeks.

It’s been exciting to join a community of passionate campaigners at Money and Mental Health. I’m looking forward to getting to work on more of our campaigns and to collaborate with our Research Community.

My focus

The challenges people face in accessing services and support, whether that’s support with a mental health problem or vital financial advice, are unsettling and unacceptable. If I had to isolate one aspect of this role that I am most excited about, it would be the prospect of achieving tangible change. 

I feel invigorated by the chance to take an active role on issues that matter to me – and to amplify the voices of our Research Community and help people’s experiences reach the desks of journalists and policymakers – not just improving understanding, but shaping our laws and our policies. 

I’d love to hear from you. To help to inform our work and our campaigns, please join our Research Community