Mental health and wellbeing are closely linked — but what's the difference? Mental health is a psychological term that describes how we think, feel and behave. Wellbeing looks more broadly at how we feel about our lives. But it's hard to have one without the other.

A glimpse of the #NICVASummit 2026 speaker line‑up. Inspiring voices from across the voluntary & community sector, sharing insight & lived experience to spark action. 🎤 Matt Whittaker @pbe.co.uk 🎤 Diane Yentel (National Council of Nonprofits) 🎟️ Early bird tickets until 10 May www.nicvasummit.org

When measuring impact, we often come across the J-curve phenomenon. When people get involved with programmes designed to help, we sometimes see a fall in their reported outcomes before it begins to rise — this appears as a "J-curve" when we chart the impact of the programme.

A reminder that these volunteer opportunities are closing on Monday — apply now! (details and links below)👇

We're still accepting applications for pro bono support from our in-house economists. 👇

We were pleased to collaborate with Morgan Stanley last week to deliver an impact measurement session for participants of the Impact Through Innovation Awards.

Economic impact measurement of your programmes could help secure funding and drive systemic change 💡 Join our next Unlocking Impact Workshop to learn more about the economic approach to measuring impact.

📣 New volunteer opportunities for economists and analysts. We've got four opportunities for economists and analysts who want to use their skills to support charities, social enterprises and CICs by giving up a few days of their time pro bono.

Last week, we hosted a roundtable to discuss our new report - Levelling the playing field: Measuring wellbeing among people with learning disabilities.

Initial findings on school-based counselling support are promising.💡 We're working with @place2becharity.bsky.social to evaluate their school-based one-to-one counselling service in London.

What is green or blue social prescribing? 🌊 🌳 The evidence of a link between improved wellbeing and spending time in nature is growing.

Have you applied for your charity, CIC or social enterprise yet?

We want to level the playing field for people with learning disabilities by establishing more consistent ways to measure the impact of things that affect their lives.

We've matched volunteer economists with Speech Bubbles CIC through our Data First Aid programme 🎉

"It would be a mistake to assume that charities can simply stretch further once again...Supporting civil society through the months ahead will require concerted action across the public, private and social sectors."

When we brought together experts from across the private, public and social sectors for the Law Family Commission on Civil Society, one of their recommendations for unleashing the potential of civil society was to help the sector share knowledge and build on what works. 1/3

We partnered a volunteer analyst with Living Sport to help them make more informed decisions. 💡 They wanted to make better use of their programme and finance data when making decisions. The team needed clear and easy-to-use visuals so they could look at data over time and compare projects.

The UK has a loneliness problem. Our 2024 research found that five million adults in the UK live with chronic loneliness and the cost to public services is significant. pbe.co.uk/publications...

Get pro bono support from our in-house economists for your charity or social enterprise 👀 The application window for pro bono analysis projects is open for a limited time. To be eligible to apply, your charity or social enterprise must be based in the UK and benefit UK communities.

Is social media the reason teenagers in the UK have the lowest wellbeing in Europe? Last week, a landmark legal judgement in the US against the parent companies of Instagram and YouTube found that a young woman became addicted to social media as a child which worsened her mental health.

We've matched Marion Gady with @autistica.org.uk 🎉 Marion and a team of economists from FTI will be working with Autistica to create scenarios and break-even analyses to estimate economic benefits from neuroinclusion improvements.

Earlier this month, our executive team and board came together for PBE’s annual strategy away day – a chance to step back from the day-to-day to reflect on our broader approach to delivering against our mission of improving outcomes for those with the lowest wellbeing in the UK.

Sign up to get our latest insights in your inbox. 📨 This month's insight and events newsletter includes: • a new blog from our Training Facilitator, Alexa Sage answering the frequently asked questions from our Unlocking Impact workshops.

Economist and analyst volunteer roles closing tomorrow 👀 We have volunteer opportunities with the Forest of Dean Climate Action Partnership or the ADHD Action Network.

PBE Volunteer and data analyst Ricard De Haro Flores created a tailored Excel-based data management and reporting tool for the Renewal Trust. 🧑‍💻

"Exposure to the social sector helps economists to become more rounded in their outlook and therefore better placed to make good – and wellbeing-enhancing – decisions back in their day jobs. "

What resources do social sector organisations need to run economic impact evaluations?

📣 Economists and analysts. We have volunteer opportunities with the Forest of Dean Climate Action Partnership or the ADHD Action Network.

We’re working with @childrenssociety.bsky.social on a new project to build the economic case for supporting children and young people's mental health and wellbeing earlier.

In 2025 we helped to unleash civil society's potential 📈

What do social sector organisations ask us about impact measurement? 🤔 Over the last five years, we have welcomed hundreds of charities, CICs and social enterprises from across the UK to our Unlocking Impact Workshops.

"When women thrive we all thrive" Last year, in partnership with Rosa we released, Underfunded and under the radar, a report on the state of funding for civil society organisations supporting women and girls. pbe.co.uk/publications... #IWD2026

📣 Analysts! Join us to build your understanding of wellbeing measurement in our next wellbeing valuation workshop. 📆 17 & 19 March 2026 ⏰ 4.5 hours 🎟️ pbe.co.uk/our-services...

We're looking for social sector organisations supporting children under the age of 16 that want to measure their economic impact to raise the profile of their work.

We supported 163 social sector organisations in different ways during 2025. 🎉

Thank you to all the charities who joined us last week for one of our Unlocking Impact Workshops.

Mental health support doesn’t need to be in a stuffy clinical environment!

Our new report for Defence Gardens Scheme finds good evidence that their nature-based intervention improves wellbeing. 🌱

At our team meeting on Wednesday, PBE Economic Associate and Economic Advisor at the Bank of England, @joshmartinecon.bsky.social, joined us on his lunch break.

Really pleased to publish our 2025 impact report, showcasing a year in which we arguably did more than ever before to empower UK charities, unleash civil society's potential, and drive the use of economics for good pbe.co.uk/impact_repor... Huge credit and thanks to all in the @pbe.co.uk family

Our 2025 impact report – Strength in Numbers – is published today 📣

Meet Analyst @Oscar Zemsky 👋 Oscar has been on a six month placement with PBE as part of the Civil Service Fast Stream.

Happening today 👀

In this month's PBE Insights and events newsletter ✉️ • A new blog about our partnership with The Fore to help small charities measure their impact. • The PBE 2025 impact report: Strength in numbers And more! Sign up to get it in your inbox next week and every month: eepurl.com/den4kn

The Safe Soulmates programme could be generating as much as £22 in wellbeing benefits for every £1 spent. 👏

We've partnered four Volunteer Analysts with Working with Cancer as part of our Data First Aid Scheme 🎉

Thank you to all our Small Charities Forum members 🙏 We met with our brilliant Small Charities Forum members last week to chat about everything from recruitment challenges to building AI bots. pbe.co.uk/small-charit...

📣 Economists and analysts We've got three volunteer opportunities for you. 🗓️ Apply by 18 Feb

Meet @karol122.bsky.social, our research lead for children and young people's mental health. 👋

At school, a curriculum that fosters a sense of belonging improves mental health and academic outcomes. Especially for those who experience marginalisation, according to @pbe.co.uk. Let's help children and young people develop their place together.