Andy BellThink tank

Biography

Andy Bell is Chief Executive of the Centre for Mental Health, an independent charity and think tank dedicated to eradicating mental health inequalities through research, policy influence and evidence communication. He has worked at the organisation since 2002, serving as Director of Communications and then Deputy Chief Executive from 2009, before becoming Chief Executive in 2023. He has spent more than 25 years in the voluntary sector working on equality and social justice. Bell was the driving force behind the Commission for Equality in Mental Health, which produced the report 'Mental Health for All', and he leads the Equally Well UK collaborative on physical health for people with severe mental illness. He is a member of the Mental Health Policy Group and argues publicly that poverty, inequality, racism and discrimination are primary drivers of poor mental health.

References

1. 1.Andy Bell – Centre for Mental Health staff page — Current role as Chief Executive, joined 2002, background in voluntary sector policy, Commission for Equality in Mental Health, Equally Well UK
2. 2.Centre for Mental Health appoints Andy Bell as its new Chief Executive — Formal appointment as Chief Executive in 2023, career history, perinatal mental health services work, Local Authority Mental Health Challenge
3. 3.Major mental health charity names new chief executive – Third Sector — Confirms Bell took over as CEO following Sarah Hughes's departure to Mind
4. 4.Andy Bell – National Elf Service author profile — Career progression: Director of Communications, Deputy Chief Executive 2009, Chief Executive 2023; member of Mental Health Policy Group; chaired Mental Health Alliance 2006–2008
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Mental health
• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Mental health inequality
• Mental health policy
• Social determinants of mental health
• Criminal justice and mental health
• Employment and mental health
• Children and young people's mental health

Notable achievements

• Drove the Commission for Equality in Mental Health (funded by the Elliott Simmons Charitable Trust), whose final report 'Mental Health for All' set out a system-level vision for mental health equality across communities and government. Source ↗
• Spearheaded the Local Authority Mental Health Challenge, equipping over 100 local councillors to champion mental health at a local level. Source ↗
• Used the Centre's economic research to support the roll-out of specialist perinatal mental health services across the UK, and made the case for liaison and diversion services alongside ministers and politicians of all parties. Source ↗
• Appointed Chief Executive of Centre for Mental Health in October 2023 after serving as Interim Chief Executive from December 2022. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “called for a meeting with Phillipson "to discuss how we can work together to safeguard the mental health, dignity and equality of trans and non-binary people across the UK".”

  chief executive of Centre for Mental Health · Mental health · 27 Aug 2026 · Rules on single-sex spaces pose risk to trans people’s mental health, UK charities say ↗

• “It's encouraging to see digital solutions being used to support children's mental health at school. Schools have a big impact on children's mental health and those that take a broad approach to wellbeing are better able to support inclusion, attainment, attendance and behaviour.”

  chief executive of the Centre for Mental Health thinktank · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · London schools trialling VR to relieve pupils’ stress ↗

Source references

1. Rules on single-sex spaces pose risk to trans people’s mental health, UK charities saytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. London schools trialling VR to relieve pupils’ stresstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/team/andy-bell/
• Xhttps://x.com/andy__bell__published here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/andy-bell-009687111
• Press office emailcontact@centreformentalhealth.org.ukpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.