Our impact 2022 – 2023
What a difference a year makes.
It’s been a tough twelve months, as the cost of living soared and we continued to see the fallout from the pandemic.
But we’ve seen plenty of reasons to stay hopeful, too.
We’ve seen the media speak more and more about eating disorders. We’ve seen promises of increased funding for research. We’ve seen support and commitment from decision makers in government.
But more than that, we’ve seen what our amazing community is capable of. Every hour volunteered, every story shared, every penny donated makes a difference.
As you take a look at last year's work, you’ll see how every step we take together, no matter how small, brings us closer to our goal: an end to the pain and suffering of eating disorders.
But first, let’s look at the numbers
With tailored programmes added to the suite of services we offer, we could help thousands of people get the support they needed. Whether that was a compassionate voice at the end of the phone, or the understanding of someone who’s been there, we were here for them.
93% of people who called our Helpline felt they’d been given good or excellent support and information
While 96% came away knowing where to get further support
98% would recommend Beat to a friend
In total, we helped the people who needed us most 96,473 times
“I've been amazed at just how effective this programme is. The support I received has been absolutely first class… all of my questions have been carefully considered and answered, and now I'm in a much healthier place in terms of my relationship with food." — Participant on our binge eating support programme, “Momentum”
We didn’t do it alone, though.
748 volunteers dedicated a massive 24,525 hours throughout the year.
They answered emails and one-to-one webchats, guided conversation in online support groups, and shared their personal experiences, helping thousands to get the support they needed.
1,040 people got crafting and baking, trekking and skydiving to raise £731,709
And in total you donated £895,200 to support our vital work
“It feels incredibly important and… rewarding. Knowing that I can and have made even a small difference in the life of someone who is living through an incredibly difficult time is really fulfilling.” — Beat volunteer
HERE TO HELP. RIGHT NOW.
No one should have to wait for the help they need. Last year, we took steps to make sure fewer people have to.
We secured three debates across Holyrood and both Houses in Westminster. Members from across the political spectrum spoke passionately on the risks posed by social media, the importance of early support and treatment, and the need for progress.
The huge level of interest meant all three debates had to be time limited. Many who spoke recognised the work we’re doing to advocate for people with eating disorders, including every Member of Scottish Parliament who spoke during the debate in Holyrood.
It was a year that saw phenomenal levels of political engagement with our work — and as pressure on healthcare services increases, it leaves plenty of doors open for us to keep holding policymakers to account.
“I take this opportunity to acknowledge the excellent work of Beat in raising awareness and providing much needed advice and support to those suffering from an eating disorder and those close to them.” — Beatrice Wishart, MSP for the Shetland Islands
Last year, the government introduced calorie labelling on menus in England, despite the harm this causes to people with eating disorders. But the rest of the UK does not have to follow — and with the help of our campaigners, we took action against this happening.
Over 3,500 of you signed an open letter to Scotland’s Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport, while 700 signed the letter to the Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing for Wales.
We handed over the letters with the help of our amazing lived experience volunteers. We made our case against calorie labelling, and ensured people with eating disorders had a voice in the debate.
We were instrumental in the return of the Cross-Party Group on eating disorders in Wales. Chaired by Sarah Murphy MS, and with Beat providing the secretariat, the group means we can work closely with supportive Members of the Senedd to raise awareness of eating disorders across Wales.
We expanded Beat’s reach across Northern Ireland, holding conversations with groups key to our work, like the Education Authority and local clinical network.
And for the first time in three years, professionals, students, and those with personal experience gathered in person for our Us vs. Eating Disorders event in Glasgow — a reminder of the many people ready to work together to beat eating disorders.
Beat appeared 5,000 times in the media. That includes 28 appearances in major news outlets — BBC Breakfast, Good Morning Britain and CNN, just to name a few.
And we helped dozens of people get their stories out there, nationally and locally. Every one of these stories was a chance for people to learn about eating disorders from those who understand them best.
We carried out the UK’s biggest survey to date on men’s experiences with eating disorders. We found that...
1 in 3 men had never accessed treatment
1 in 5 had never spoken out about their struggles
And 4 in 5 felt raising awareness would help more men get help sooner
Our campaign reached more than 3,000,000 people online
We also launched a brand-new online support group, Osprey, for men with eating disorders to share their feelings and get advice from each other in a safe, understanding space.
WE WANT TO SEE EVERYONE GET SUPPORT — AND THAT MEANS EVERYONE.
Eating disorders don’t discriminate — and everyone affected deserves support. Last year, we ensured more people have the help they need.
That starts with empowering people to find support themselves. Getting more information out there, so more people can identify an eating disorder, is a first step. But last year also saw us relaunch HelpFinder, our online directory of services, to help people find high-quality support that works for them.
Easier to use, with more relevant results, HelpFinder gives details of NHS and private eating disorder services, charities and voluntary groups, accredited therapists, dieticians, and more. They can refer themselves to our services, too.
We also took steps to include more people in our work, and to meet the needs of underserved communities.
For eating disorder services to truly support everyone affected, those who understand eating disorders first hand must be at their heart. From designing and implementing, to reviewing and adapting services, our new co-production team championed the voices of people with eating disorders.
We supported partners across both the NHS and private healthcare, advising them on how meaningfully consider the experiences of people with eating disorders when building services. We took part in working groups following the Scottish government’s review of eating disorder services, championing the need to put lived experience at the centre as recommendations from the review are implemented.
And we recruited and trained those with lived experience, empowering them to share their views for co-production projects. Their contributions will lead to better, more effective services for everyone affected.
We launched two new courses in our Coping with Celebrations series, providing guidance to those caring for someone during Passover and Ramadan.
And we welcomed 445 people to our autism and eating disorders workshop. Autistic people are disproportionately affected by eating disorders, but face barriers to support. So we gave practical guidance to carers and professionals on how to better meet their needs.
THE MORE PEOPLE IN THIS FIGHT, THE FASTER PEOPLE GET HELP
So this year, we trained healthcare and education professionals to spot the early signs of eating disorders, and take action quickly.
3,130 people joined SPOT (Schools Professionals Online Training) — our online learning platform for those working in education.
509 healthcare professionals joined our free, virtual Beyond the Symptoms course.
We continued to campaign for improved training on eating disorders for medical students. 16 medical schools now provide effective teaching, with a further 10 in the process of updating their curriculum. Our resources make it as easy as possible to give medical students the foundation they need to support future patients.
But we went beyond just medical schools. With Health Education England and NHS England, we created 9 comprehensive online training sessions across 5 new courses. They’re tailored not just to medical students, but to nurses, general practitioners, foundation doctors, dietitians, community pharmacy teams, and more. They’re free to NHS staff — and they’ll raise awareness in the areas these professionals can step in to help the most.
HELPING THOSE WHO HELP
It’s not just people with eating disorders who need support. It’s those around them as well.
Not only because eating disorders affect friends and family too. But because people have the best chance of recovery when they have a strong support network — one that understands, and has the tools to help.
So we provided safe spaces where those supporting someone with an eating disorder could share how they were feeling. We connected people with others caring for a loved one. We helped them to learn new skills. And all for free.
“It was such a support to me… and validated how the illness has affected me and my life. It gave an excellent insight into the illness, and workable, practical ideas of how to move together as a family. I cannot recommend it enough.” — Participant on Raising Resilience, our training course to help carers gain valuable new skills to support a loved one
We continued to add to our support programmes for those caring for people with eating disorders.
We launched Compass, a ten-week coaching course for family members and other carers of teenagers waiting for treatment.
We piloted Harnessing Hope, a skills workshop for those supporting someone who’s been experiencing an eating disorder for five years or longer.
And for the first time, we offered tailored support to people caring for a child with ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder).
Endeavour is a carer support group facilitated by a member of Beat’s support services team, with weekly sessions over eight weeks. It’s there to help people better understand the illness, and their child’s journey to recovery. It gives people the chance to talk to others in the same boat, so they feel less alone.
Since it launched in December 2022, 78 people have already been through the programme. That’s 936 hours participants have spent connecting with others who understand what they’re going through, and gaining knowledge that will help them support their child.
“This programme has had a huge impact on our lives, it's given us the knowledge and tools to be able to improve life for my son.” — Endeavour participant
STOPPING EATING DISORDERS BEFORE THEY START
With the right research, and the right policies, we can make sure fewer people experience the pain and suffering of an eating disorder in the first place.
So as Westminster developed an online safety bill, we championed the needs of people who have — or could develop — an eating disorder, with the help of organisations like Ofcom and supportive politicians in both Houses.
We lobbied for the bill to:
- Keep children from seeing content that promotes eating disorders
- Make sure eating disorder content, like content focused on recovery, is age appropriate for children
- Require social media platforms to let users increase their control over whether they see content that promotes eating disorder behaviour, or could be triggering to them
- The internet can both help and harm people vulnerable to eating disorders — so we’ll keep doing everything we can to shift the balance for the better.
In 2021, we gathered evidence from research funders, academics, clinicians, people with personal experience of eating disorders and more, to produce the report ‘Breaking the Cycle’ on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on eating disorders.
It found a “cycle of underfunding” was holding back eating disorder research. Research that would answer vital questions, like what causes eating disorders, how we should treat them, and how we can stop them developing.
So a group of research funders stepped up: the Medical Research Council, Medical Research Foundation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, and the Economic and Social Research Council.
Together, they’ve put £4,250,000 towards eating disorder research. It’s money that will support with everything from improving the collection of eating disorder data to developing new methods to research the impact of social media.
There’s a long way still to go. But this is a significant step towards real change.
“While this is an important step forward, this must be part of a long-term effort to ensure that UK eating disorder researchers have the resources they need to achieve the major advances in knowledge that we so urgently need.” — Wera Hobhouse MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on eating disorders
WHAT’S NEXT?
We have a packed year ahead, as we aim to help more people than ever before.
We’ll keep giving policymakers, professionals, and the public the tools to provide fast, effective treatment
We’ll keep championing the needs of our whole community, building services that help everybody
And we’ll keep fighting for an end to the pain and suffering of eating disorders
Will you be there with us?
Thank you to everyone who’s made our work possible
We can only help people affected by eating disorders thanks to the following organisations and individuals, who generously helped fund and support the past year’s work:
- 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust
- AWEDSIG (All-Wales Eating Disorder Special Interest Group)
- The Aviva Foundation
- Catriona Smith
- The Church of Scotland Guild
- City Bridge Trust
- CHK Foundation
- The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
- Garfield Weston Foundation
- John Armitage Charitable Trust
- Mental Health Action Wales
- Moondance Foundation
- The National Lottery Community Fund
- Northern Ireland Community Foundation
- The Rayne Foundation
- Scottish Government
- Souter Charitable Trust
- The Spectris Foundation
- St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation
- Stone Family Foundation
- Vogelgezang Foundation
- Welsh Government
And every fundraiser, donor, volunteer, campaigner, and partner who’s supported our mission. Together, we change lives.