ITV has put £1m of airtime up for grabs for ads that spotlight mental wellbeing.

ITV has announced that its Head First Award will be returning for 2025-26. Launched in 2023, the Head First Award is an initiative which aims to spotlight mental wellbeing and inspire positive action through advertising.

The main prize is £1m in ITV airtime to help one winning brand share their message on TV.

Last year, the World Wide Fund for Nature won the award for its “Prescription for nature” campaign.

Created by Uncommon Creative Studio, the campaign encouraged people to get their “daily dose of nature” to improve their mental health, based on the insight that just 20 minutes in nature each day is enough to make a positive impact on people’s mental wellbeing.

On winning the award, Holly McKinlay, director of strategic communications and brand at WWF UK, said: "As a charity we could never dream of having £1m-worth of airtime and that allowed us to go far and wide with the campaign and extend it for years to come. It also helped us to drive forward the mission of our charity and demonstrate to people that nature can improve your wellbeing, and is also essential for just about everything in our lives."

Judges have been selected for the 2025-26 edition and they are:

• Poppy Jaman, founder, MindForward Alliance

• Kate Waters, client strategy and commercial marketing director, ITV

• Sarah Hughes, chief executive, Mind

• Sarah Hunt, head of strategy and communications, social purpose, ITV

• Dino Myers-Lamptey, founder, The Barber Shop

• Maisie McCabe, editor, Campaign

• Lindsey Clay, chief executive, Thinkbox

• Daniel Morris, executive creative director

Entries are NOW OPEN and will close on 3 February 2026. 

Shortlisted entries will be given one month from the shortlist announcement on 25 March 2026 to develop an in-person pitch, with a view to the final campaigns being on air in Q4 2026.