The Innovation Fund (formally the Innovation Conference) was established in 2017. Starting as an idea from a volunteer member of the North East Hampshire and Farnham CCG Community Ambassador Programme, the Innovation Fund aims to give communities the opportunity, support, courage and seed funding to suggest and progress innovative projects that could have a big impact on the health and wellbeing of local people.
Over 45 projects have now been supported and the impact on local communities has been clear to see.
By providing opportunities for our community to find the solutions to local health and care issues, we are able to develop models from the ground up alongside local people, supporting gaps in health inequalities in a different and more impactful way.
The Innovation Fund has always aimed to create a safe space for individuals, local community groups or established charities to bring new ideas or ideas that can take an existing project to the next level and benefit from the input, knowledge and connections of local people and organisations in developing and shaping the project further. Alongside this fantastic networking opportunity, this year thrilled to have opened up the process to a much wider audience accross the whole Frimley CCG footprint and to have been able to raise the upper limit of funding to £5000 per project.
The process in 2021 hasn’t been able to take place face-to-face but we have taken that challenge of trying to capture the atmosphere, networking and excitement our normal conference gernerates seriously. Instead we chose to hold a series of virtual online development workshops for successful projects which we are pleased to say have been well attended, well received and extremely beneficial to those who were involved
Earlier this year the funding was available to people and communities across North East Hampshire and Farnham and Surrey Heath (use the link below to find out a bit more about the projects who received funding) and currently we are pleased to announce that the Innovation fund is now open and accepting applications from people and communities working with children, young people and families across Slough, Bracknell Forest and The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. To find out more please click here and see how you could apply.
Click here for more information about North East Hampshire and Farnham and Surrey Heath projects supported in 2021
