Innovation and Improvement in Health & Care

This grant programme supports the implementation and scaling up of innovative models of health and care that will improve outcomes for people living with serious long-term or life-limiting conditions. Applications may address any area of physical or mental health, physical or learning disability, or end-of-life care.

The Trust is seeking to fund tested models, which are scalable/replicable by other organisations, and where the applicant has a clear road map showing how they intend to secure long-term funding to sustain and expand the model beyond the period that the Trust is being asked to support.

Applications must provide robust evidence that the model is effective and will start to deliver meaningful outcomes within two years of an award.

The Trust will not fund incremental changes in a single setting or provide revenue funding to maintain existing provisions, however worthwhile these may be.

The Trust is seeking to support innovative models of health and care for which there is robust evidence demonstrating both the effectiveness of the model and that it is ready to be implemented at a larger scale. Projects could include, for example:

• scaling-up an intervention which has already been trialled in your organisation’s clinical or healthcare setting and has been shown to deliver positive real-world outcomes
• adaptation and implementation of a model which has been shown to be effective in other countries but has not previously been applied in the UK
• adaptation and implementation of an innovative model which has previously been shown to be effective in a different setting or for different groups of beneficiaries.

The Trust will support the up-front investment necessary to roll out or scale up the model, and will therefore consider applications to support:

• infrastructure funding for specific facilities or equipment, where these are necessary to support innovation or improvement in practice
• project costs necessary to roll out or scale up new, improved practice, including staff, IT or consumables costs. This can include new staff recruited to deliver the project. Further information regarding eligible staff costs is provided in a later section of this guidance.

The fund will not support:

• small-scale activity to make incremental improvements in practice in a single setting; however worthwhile these may be
• purchase or licensing costs to adopt commercial technology that is already in routine use by other organisations in the UK
• implementation of practices that, while not currently employed by the applicant organisation, are routinely used by other organisations in the UK
• research projects, pilot projects, or early-stage work to assess proof of concept
• research into the causes and treatment of illnesses
• educational funds such as degree programmes, scholarships, or bursaries
• projects where the underlying evidence is based on academic studies without any practical testing by the applicant organisation
• the routine replacement of equipment or the routine refurbishment of facilities
• contributions to large capital campaigns for “bricks and mortar” projects, unless they relate to specific facilities or services that directly address the priorities of this fund.

In previous years, the value of individual awards under this programme has typically been in the range of £150,000 – £500,000. Given the type and scale of projects that the Trust is seeking to support, it will not consider applications for awards of less than £100,000.

As set out under “What the Trust will fund”, the Trust will consider requests for staff costs where these are an essential element of the up-front investment needed to scale-up or roll-out the model. Where applications include staff costs, applicants should note that:

• the Trust will only fund salary costs for existing members of staff where they will make a substantial contribution to roll-out or scaling up of the new, improved practice
• the Trust will not fund any elements of staff salaries required to maintain ongoing activity
• given workforce pressures across the health and care sectors, applicants will need to demonstrate that they have robust plans in place to recruit and retain any additional specialist staff required to implement and sustain the new model.

The Trust recognises that delivering a project will make some demands on the organisation’s core services (such as space, IT, or other resources). Budgets may therefore include a reasonable contribution to overheads.

Organisations should not seek to recover overheads by including fractional salary contributions for staff who are not making a substantial contribution to the project.

Any funding from the Trust must be spent down within two years from the award date (expected to be in November 2025).

If an application does not begin to deliver meaningful outcomes within the first two years and does not present a robust plan to complete the project, this is likely to raise questions about the effectiveness of the model and/or the commitment of the organisations contributing to the project.

The programme is open to registered and exempt charities in the UK and to NHS organisations. The applicant’s primary activities must focus on the delivery and improvement of health and care.

Applicant organisations must have an annual income of at least £10 million (as recorded in their most recent audited financial statements).

The Trust recognises that many excellent services in health and care are delivered by organisations whose income falls below this threshold but is also very conscious of the level of work and resources required to prepare an application. The experience of previous funding rounds has shown that – whatever their other strengths – smaller organisations are less likely to have the reach and capacity to deliver the type of scalable and sustainable change that the Trust is seeking to fund.

Where an application involves a number of partners, the income threshold of £10m will apply to the combined annual income of the partners. Please refer to the later section on Partnerships for further guidance.

If the applicant (or lead applicant of a partnership) is a charity, the organisation must have been registered with the Charity Commission (or equivalent in other parts of the UK) for a minimum of five years, assessed from the deadline for submission of initial Expressions of Interest. An exempt charity must have existed for at least five years with that status.

Organisations cannot apply if they have received a capital award from the Trust within the last two years (assessed against the date of the previous award letter). Please contact the Trust if you are unsure if your charity, university or NHS Trust has recently received funding.

Organisations may only submit one application to the Trust’s capital programmes each year. Universities and NHS organisations, which are considering prospective projects for both the Innovation and Improvement in Health and Care Fund and the Trust’s Research Infrastructure Fund, will need to coordinate the selection process to decide which one should be submitted. It is recommended that applicants work with their fundraising/development office to organise their application. If multiple applications from a single organisation are received, only the first will be considered.

It is not possible for the Trust to consider applications from:

• Organisations whose primary charitable activities do not focus on the delivery and improvement of health and care.
• Organisations (or partnership of organisation) with an annual income under £10 million (as recorded in their most recent audited financial statements)
• Organisations that have received a capital funding award from the Trust within the previous two years (from the date of the last award). For the avoidance of doubt, this includes:
  • NHS organisations and universities with separate, dedicated charities. For example, an NHS charity will not be eligible if their NHS Trust has received an award within the previous two years, or vice versa
  • Universities or NHS organisations if they or an affiliated organisation have received funding within the two previous years from the Trust’s Research Infrastructure Fund
• Organisations that do not have registered charity or exempt charity status, including community interest companies
• Charities which have been registered with the Charity Commission (or equivalent in other parts of the UK) for less than five years, assessed from the deadline for submission of initial Expressions of Interest
• Overseas organisations, or organisations based in the UK who are seeking support for a project overseas
• Religious, faith-based, or belief organisations

Where projects involve two or more partners, the application must specify the lead organisation that will be responsible for the delivery of the project, and to which any funding from the Trust would be awarded. The lead organisation must demonstrate that it has the expertise and track record required to deliver a project of the scale and impact that the Trust is seeking to fund.

All the partners named in the application must be committed to the successful delivery of the project, and to securing its future sustainability. This commitment may be demonstrated, for example, by financial or in-kind support within the project budget. If partners are not committing resources to the delivery of the project, then the Trust will expect, as a minimum, to see letters of support for the project from the senior management of the partner organisations.

The collective income of all partner organisations involved in the project must meet or exceed £10 million annually to qualify for funding under this programme.

The Trust recognises that effective partnerships take time to develop, and that project plans may include the recruitment of additional partners during the life of the project to support the future scaling and sustainability of the model. Applicants should nevertheless be transparent about the current status of any partnerships – and the level of commitment from existing or prospective partners – at the point of application.

Where NHS Trusts have separate, dedicated charities which support their work, only one application may be submitted. If an NHS Trust and its associated charity are seeking funds for multiple projects, they will need to assess which one most closely meets the Trust’s funding criteria and submit a single application.

Similarly, where a university and affiliated NHS organisation both have a prospective proposal, they must coordinate the selection process to decide which one should be submitted.

If multiple applications from affiliated organisations (described above) are received, then only the first will be considered.

Applicants who have received funding from the Innovation and Improvement in Health and Care Fund or the Research Infrastructure Fund must wait two years from the date of their award before reapplying. However, those who were unsuccessful in previous funding rounds may reapply without any time restrictions.

The fund has a three-stage application process. Further guidance on each stage is provided in later sections of the Trust’s guidance.

The three stages are:

1. Expressions of interest (EOI)

EOIs must be submitted using the template provided on the Trust’s website. The deadline for submitting EOIs is 15^th November 2024.

Organisations wishing to be considered for an award will need to submit a short EOI providing an overview of the project, the supporting evidence, a headline budget, and expected outcomes.

EOIs will be assessed during November/December, and projects that are considered potentially fundable will be invited to submit a second-stage application.

Please see Further guidance on Expressions of Interest below

2. Second-stage application

Organisations invited to submit a second-stage application will need to provide a more detailed proposal including a full budget and evidence of support from any partners named in the application.

Second-stage applications must be submitted using the template and budget pro forma provided by the Trust to invited applicants.

The deadline for submitting second-stage applications is 28th February 2025.

Second-stage applications will be considered by the Trust’s Board in May. Shortlisted organisations will then be invited to submit a full application. Please see “Further guidance on second-stage applications” below.

3. Full application

Organisations invited to submit a full application will need to provide a more detailed proposal, including progress made since submission of the second-stage application, and responses to any specific points raised by the Trust’s Board.

The deadline for submitting second-stage applications is 29th August 2025.

Full applications will be considered by the Board of Trustees in October/November, following site visits and external review (where appropriate).

Please see Further guidance on full applications below.

Applicants will need to provide robust evidence that the model is effective and will begin to deliver meaningful outcomes within two years of any award.

The Trust is not prescriptive about the form this evidence should take, but applicants will need to provide relevant clinical, health or social care data demonstrating the effectiveness of the model and that it is now ready to be scaled up or rolled out in other settings. The strength of this evidence should be commensurate with the level of funding being requested.

The following do not on their own constitute evidence of effectiveness:

• small pilots with a low number of participants
• clinical or demographic data illustrating the scale of potential need
• patient or other beneficiary feedback indicating that the intervention is acceptable or desirable
• citation of academic studies or data without any practical testing by the applicant organisation

The Trust is seeking to fund models which are scalable/replicable by other organisations and will be sustained and extended beyond the two-year period of any award. Beyond the existing evidence of effectiveness included in their application, organisations will be expected to explain any further data that will be generated during the funding period to support the further extension of the model and/or secure future funding from commissioners.

EOIs must be submitted using the online form provided on the Trust’s website. Proposals or funding requests received through other means will not be considered.

Organisations will need to complete an eligibility questionnaire to assess whether they are eligible to apply to the fund. Only those who are eligible will be able to access the EOI form.

Where two or more partners are involved in a proposal, the EOI must be submitted by the lead organisation.

The deadline for submitting EOIs is 15^th November 2024.

The EOI is intended to provide a brief overview of the project.

Trust staff will review EOIs to make an initial assessment of applications’ alignment with the funding criteria and the evidence underpinning the proposal. Where projects are assessed to be potentially fundable, Trust staff will invite organisations to submit a second-stage proposal and provide a link to the application form and budget template. All organisations submitting an EOI will be informed of the outcome of this initial assessment but given the number of proposals, it is not possible for the Trust to provide feedback to those who are not invited to progress to the second stage.

Organisations invited to submit a second-stage application will be provided with a link to access the online application form and budget template. Proposals submitted by other means will not be considered.

In completing the application form and budget template, organisations will be expected to explain clearly and convincingly:

• how the requested funding would be used to support innovation through the implementation of a new model of health and care practice
• the anticipated outcomes of the project, within the two-year funding period and beyond, and how these will improve provision for people living with serious long-term or life-limiting conditions
• an initial assessment of the opportunities for these outcomes to be adopted more widely, how this will be achieved, and the potential barriers to wider adoption
• how the proposed investment relates to the organisation’s wider strategy
• the individual or team that would be responsible for leading the project
• the expected cost of the project, any financial or in-kind commitments from the organisation or partners, and plans for fundraising
• an initial assessment of how the organisation plans to secure longer-term funding to ensure the sustainability of the model
• the expected timescale for the project
• a completed budget using the Trust’s template.

The deadline for submitting second-stage applications is 28th February 2025. Second-stage applications will be considered and short-listed at the Trustees’ summer meeting, which is usually held in May.

Organisations invited to submit a full application will need to provide a more detailed proposal, including progress made since submission of the second-stage application, and responses to any specific points raised by the Trust’s Board.

The full application should set out:

• how the project has been taken forward since the second-stage application, and any additional evidence arising from this work that demonstrates positive, real-world outcomes.
• the indicators the organisation will use to assess the success of the project, and when it expects these measures to be achieved.
• a clear plan for sharing/disseminating outcomes, the lessons learned from the project and how these outcomes will be scalable/replicable by other organisations.
• updated costings for the project. The application should highlight any specific aspects of the budget that the Trust is being asked to fund.
• how the project will be funded, including details of cash and in-kind contributions from the organisation’s resources, progress in securing other external funding and the fundraising pipeline.
• projected cash flow showing how the innovation or care model is supported by the proposed investment.
• how the project will be sustained.
• the timetable and key milestones for the project.
• the key risks and mitigations considered in developing the project plan.

There is no set format for full applications, but submissions must not exceed 10 sides of A4 and have a minimum font size of 11 and a minimum margin size of 2 cm. Applicants may attach annexes to the document (for example letters of support from partners, additional data demonstrating the effectiveness of the model, or additional information on the budget). Annexes must not exceed 5 sides of A4 in total and have a minimum font size of 11 and a minimum margin size of 2 cm.

Applicants must submit a final budget for the project, using the template provided by the Trust.

The Board of Trustees will be familiar with each proposal from the early stages of the process. The full application should nevertheless stand on its own and provide the Trustees with a comprehensive picture of the project, its financing, and the justification for the Trust providing support.

The deadline for submission of full applications is 28th August 2025. Applications and the completed budget template must be submitted by email to [email protected]. 

The Trust may wish to visit your project as part of the assessment process for full applications or invite you to suggest the names of external experts to act as referees.

Substantial demand for the Trust’s limited resources means that applications are competitive. Submitting an expression of interest, second-stage application, and/or full application does not guarantee progress to the next stage of the programme or the award of funding.

Any award will be subject to the Trust’s terms and conditions of funding, and the Trust reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions from time to time.

Applicants should contact the Trust should they have any further questions at [email protected].