OUR IMPACT 2023-24 It's been a challenging year but we've changed thousands of lives affected by eating disorders.

We’ve prioritised our services that have the greatest impact and restructured our Helpline to meet demand at peak times ensuring that we are there when people need us most.

You’ve helped us help thousands of people right across the UK, and we’ve kept the spotlight on eating disorders in the media, the Government and the NHS.

We’ve continued to improve health professionals’ understanding of eating disorders by creating training programmes on behalf of Health Education England, and CPD accredited professional workshops by experts to explore key issues including Type 1 diabetes, exercise, diversity, and ARFID.

We've piloted our new casework service, Amplify, which helps those experiencing bad decisions about their care to challenge them. During the pilot, every single person we supported was able to overturn their decision to get the care and support they need.

We provided life changing information and support

Our Helpline provides supportive and non-judgemental help for anyone affected by an eating disorder. We were there for people when they needed us, whether they reached out through web chats, social media, online support groups, email or spoke to our trained telephone advisors.

We were able to help people 48,775 times though our Helpline services last year. We answered over 8,000 phone calls, over 6,000 emails and a staggering 24,000 webchats, helping people find answers, options and hope.

Thank you so much for your help. Calling today has made me feel like I have opened up a new door."

The chat rooms are such a lifeline and help for me. Sometimes knowing there is a group to attend is what gets me through the day. Thank you so much”

Eating disorders don’t discriminate and everyone affected deserves support. Last year our website helped 1.3 million visitors to access information themselves and take the first step to accessing support.

Our information resources were downloaded 72,000 times from our website, and 91,000 people used HelpFinder, our online directory of eating disorder services, to find expertise and support near them.

We helped 249 people take the first step to beating Binge Eating Disorder with our guided self-help programme Momentum.

And we helped those who help

Every day we hear from people doing everything they can to support a loved one with an eating disorder, and often facing loneliness, isolation and misunderstanding. In the last few years, we’ve sadly seen more and more carers reach crisis point. In response, we have increased the range of services we offer to support carers to develop the skills they need to look after their wellbeing and provide the best support they can to their loved ones.

You’ve helped save me and my daughter when she relapsed in lockdown and there were no other services available. When our world was very dark I really had no one who understood other than Beat.”

In November 2023, we were delighted to bring back our Support for the Frontline virtual conference, giving a platform for anyone caring for someone with an eating disorder to come together, make connections and take away practical skills and advice to help support their loved one. We welcomed 472 delegates who joined panels, workshops and listened to experts share their knowledge and experience.

“Thank you so much for an amazing excellent event. It helps to keep me pushing forward in supporting our loved one.”

We provided training and support for professionals

We know the sooner someone receives treatment for an eating disorder, the better their chances of a full and fast recovery. That’s why Beat provides training to key professionals to spot the earliest signs and know what to do when they see them, helping more people into recovery, earlier.

In 2023-4 we delivered training sessions to 854 healthcare, school and university professionals.

Our Schools Professionals Online Training (SPOT) e-learning platform has now supported 5,814 professionals in primary and secondary schools and sixth-form colleges across the UK. In March 2024, we delivered our face-to-face schools programme Spotting the Signs for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, and work has begun to bring our university professionals training Bridging the Gap back to in-person sessions too.

The SPOT training gave me the information and knowledge to recognise and talk to a student about their eating habits and their relationship with food. This led him to being referred to the eating disorder team at CAMHS and getting a diagnosis. Without the training I wouldn’t have been able to notice that.”

We are breaking down misconceptions and raising awareness

In the media

In 2023, we were able to raise our voice even louder on behalf of anyone affected by an eating disorder. Beat appeared over 3,500 times in the media last year and we helped tell your stories and share the incredible efforts of our fundraisers.

We also provided statistical data and guidance on eating disorder insights resulting in 12 national and 2 regional media stories. We’ve helped make sure some of the year’s hit TV programmes show eating disorder storylines responsibly, including Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Everything Now and Heartstopper.

Leading the conversation

We have been raising awareness and bringing people together across the political spectrum to ensure that fewer people have to wait to get the help they need.

Scottish Parliament debate

The Scottish Parliament marked Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW) 2024 with a debate in which MSPs from different parties sought to raise awareness of ARFID and the need for better support in Scotland. There were contributions from the Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport and from the opposition’s Spokesperson on Public Health and Women’s Health.

The motion was proposed by Emma Harper MSP, who commended the work of Beat, highlighting our call for the Scottish Government to provide an update on its current work to support all those impacted by an eating disorder, and to protect crucial eating disorder services despite the challenging fiscal landscape.

Making strides In Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, our National Lead took over the role of Chair of the Eating Disorders Forum, an association of regional charities. This has helped to raise our profile and reputation in Northern Ireland and has led to further opportunities, including an invitation to provide secretariat support for a new All Party Group on Eating Disorders.

Greater protection online

The Online Safety Act has become law, meaning that social media platforms should become safer places for people with eating disorders. Thanks to our lobbying, children must be prevented from seeing content that ‘encourages an eating disorder or behaviours associated with an eating disorder’ and larger platforms must give adults the tools to ‘filter’ out this content if they choose to do so.

Initially eating disorders were not subject to the strictest regulation but thanks to our work with politicians, civil servants, Ofcom and other third sector partners it has been included. And, in another win for our lobbying, the final Act included numerous amendments that we had called for, including one which extends the regulation to smaller, high-risk platforms.

Waiting times for children and young people in England

We undertook research following concerns raised with us by clinicians that some NHS Trusts were submitting misleading data which disguised the length of their waiting lists for children and young people in England. We found that around half of NHS Trusts were either failing to follow the national guidance on how to measure and report waiting times or failing to collect important data.

In several areas it was clear that many young people effectively join a hidden waiting list after their treatment has officially 'started', completely undermining the national waiting times target. After writing to these Trusts, 9 out of 25 agreed to make the changes we requested. We shared our findings and concerns with senior NHS England staff, and they have promised to take action to address the problems we highlighted.

Progress in Wales

We were delighted with the appointment in April 2023 of a new full time Clinical Lead for eating disorders in Wales. We had called for this in our 2022 report “3 Years On”, which examined progress made by the Welsh Government since the 2018 Welsh Eating Disorder Service Review.

Campaigning for intensive outpatient treatment

We want to make sure people with eating disorders get the right level of treatment at the right time. Intensive outpatient care can offer an accessible and early pathway to recovery and reduce the need for inpatient hospital stays, getting people better faster. In 2023, we began work on a new campaign to improve the quality and increase the availability of intensive outpatient care for eating disorders in the UK.

Following the National Review of Eating Disorder Services the Scottish Government funded us to organise a Lived Experience Panel. This was a way for people with firsthand experience of recovering from an eating disorder or caring for someone in recovery to have their say on government plans for eating disorder services in the coming years.

We ran three panels and 36 experts by experience were recruited and trained. The panels gave advice on the Scottish Government’s plans for the future of services, had input into NHS online resources to support patients and carers, and made recommendations on a wide range of topics including disparity in care in different parts of Scotland, better training for GPs and greater support for families and loved ones.

When I began my role as Chair of the Scottish Eating Disorders Network it was so helpful to be able to read the summary reports of the Lived Experience Panels facilitated by Beat and I look forward to continuing our work with Beat, through the Network, to seek the views of service users and carers to ensure that services across Scotland are able to deliver improved treatment and care.”

Prof Cathy Richards

Working with Essex ICB

We have been working in Essex since 2021 in what is an extremely productive and effective partnership for people with eating disorders in that area. Essex ICB have commissioned our services through a multi-year contract, allowing us to really ensure we are providing high quality service to the people of Essex, while also able to take learnings and feedback that impacts our wider national work.

We also held two tailored events for professionals in Essex to raise awareness of eating disorders, highlight the services available for people affected by eating disorders, and provide guidance to professionals who support them across the county.

"This was one of the most useful events that I have ever attended in my career. I came away feeling hopeful for how I can support our young people and their families and very clear on what is available and how to access it. A huge thank you for this opportunity. " - Essex event attendee.

Working closely with school professionals has also been a large part of this partnership. Being able to return to face-to-face workshops within schools in Essex has allowed schools in the area to be a safe space for young people who may be struggling with their eating, and enabled school staff to feel competent and prepared to spot the signs of eating disorders and manage these appropriately.

Not only have Essex commissioned our ongoing work, but they also have supported us in developing the pilot of our Anchor programme, for carers of young people with ARFID. They commissioned 40 pilot places which have now all been filled and are ongoing. Once the pilot is complete, we envisage that this programme will be available for commission nationally.

We’ll keep advocating for people with eating disorders, ensuring that decision makers listen to people with lived experience and we’ll campaign for quality, accessible treatment that tackles eating disorders as early as possible.

We’ll work with professionals in healthcare and education to ensure they have all the tools they need to provide fast and effective support for people with eating disorders.

We’ll ensure our influence is felt across all corners of the UK, and we will continue to adapt and improve our services, helping us support more people onto the path of recovery.

We’ll champion our incredible community, sharing your lived experiences, your triumphs and expanding our reach to support everyone affected by eating disorders.

Most importantly, we’ll be the calm, reassuring voice at the end of the line when someone calls in crisis. We’ll be the safe space for the family members heartbroken by this devastating illness taking over their loved one. We’ll be there. And WE’LL CHANGE LIVES.

Scan below to find out how you can help