Depression is treatable. Distance and cost should not decide who gets treated.
Beside is a registered charity working to close the global treatment gap in depression by funding and delivering brief, peer-supported, digitally-delivered mental health care.
We operate where clinical infrastructure is thin, and where the people who most need help have the least access to it.
The treatment gap is not a clinical problem. It is a delivery problem.
Effective treatments for depression have existed for decades. What has not existed is a way to deliver them to people who cannot access a clinic, cannot afford a therapist, and cannot wait for systems that will take a generation to build.
Brief, structured, peer-delivered programmes have been shown in randomised trials to reduce depression significantly at a fraction of the cost of clinical alternatives. Beside exists to take that evidence and put it to work.
Three principles that shape everything we do.
We are a young organisation with a small team and limited funding. These principles decide what we do and what we don’t.
Evidence before expansion.
We do not enter a new country until we have an evaluation plan. Every cohort is measured. Outcomes that fall short of the trial evidence are reported honestly and used to improve the programme.
Local peers, not expatriate clinicians.
The programme is delivered by people from the same communities as participants — people who speak the same language, carry the same cultural context, and have lived through depression themselves.
Transparency about what we don’t know.
The evidence is strong but incomplete. We publish our uncertainties alongside our results. We would rather donors and partners understand our limitations than discover them later.
A small, distributed group of people who have worked in global health, mental health, and programme delivery.
We are looking for people to join us. If the work sounds relevant to you, get in touch via the contact page.
Formerly WHO EMRO, with fifteen years in mental health systems strengthening across the Middle East and North Africa.
Epidemiologist. Led the cost-effectiveness modelling for the AIM research report. Previously at LSHTM.
Based in Beirut. Oversees peer training and programme delivery across Lebanon and Egypt.
Legal information
Beside is a registered charity in England and Wales. Charity registration number: 00000000. Registered address: [address]. Financial statements are published annually.
Governance
The charity is governed by a board of trustees who meet quarterly. Trustee details are available on the Charity Commission register. Our annual report is published on this website.