VSO: Sharing skills, changing lives

Welcome

Maudsley International and VSO have launched an exciting new partnership, enabling staff at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) to improve mental health in Sri Lanka.

Years of civil conflict and the Tsunami have taken their toll on Sri Lanka’s mental health. Stigma against mental illness is strong. Until recently, services have been concentrated in the capital, and reliant on an institutional, medical model of care.

VSO supports the Sri Lankan mental health sector with experienced practitioners who share ideas and approaches with Sri Lankan colleagues. For over ten years, volunteers and Sri Lankan partners have worked to make mental health services more accessible, recovery-orientated and effective.

SLaM has long supported Sri Lanka through the work of the UK Sri Lanka Trauma Group. As a SLaM employee, you can build on this tradition by volunteering your expertise under the Maudsley International and VSO partnership.

Maudsley International is a new joint initiative of the Institute of Psychiatry and SLaM. It aims to undertake teaching, training and consultancy in mental health worldwide, in collaboration with a range of organisations, including VSO.

If you’re a mental health professional in high demand for development work in Sri Lanka, you can play a vital part in tackling some of the biggest challenges in international mental health.