Care Network Wins £10,000 Funding for New Pilot Project

Care Network presented at a Dragon’s Den style event at The Marriot Hotel in Preston on Friday 22nd July, pitching for funding from the Personalised Care and NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB project. The project is aimed at creating a new way of targeting NHS community funding through coproduction (called Coproduction in Action #CPiA).

Care Network's pitch was a collaborative proposal alongside Healthwatch BwD, BwD Carers and Wot Wud U Do (a social enterprise based in Blackpool).

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we were one of the four winning pilots, securing a funding total of £10,000!

Pictured above left to right, the winning team: Dave Clayton (WWUD), Sarah Johns (Healthwatch) and James Hadleigh (Care Network).

This funding will enable us to roll out a new pilot project, creating opportunities for our Community Champions with lived experience of Learning Disabilities and Autism, to share their real experiences of growing up, develop a bespoke training package around this, and then support them to deliver the training to young SEND (14–16-year-old) students at Crosshills School in Blackburn.

Our hope is that this new initiative will assist with improving the mental health and emotional wellbeing of young people with Learning Disabilities and Autism, empowering them with the resilience, skills and self-belief to become independent young adults.

We were really pleased to see other local winners and partners at the event pictured below:

We would also like to say a big thank you to the facilitators for making the event possible, and to the panel members, including:

  • Adrian Leather – Active Lancashire: Chief Executive
  • Steve Adams – Innovation Agency: Commercial Programme Manager
  • Howerd Booth – Innovation Agency: Regional Programme Manager
  • Chris Lomas – NHS England Personalised Care: Senior Manager
  • Talib Yaseen OBE – NHS Lancashire & South Cumbria ICB : Director of Transformation

All four pilots that successfully secured funding will impact people in Blackburn with Darwen.

Well done to all involved and do stay posted with us for updates as we begin to roll out this exciting pilot in our local community.

If you would like to find out more on the services and support we offer for those with Learning Disabilities and Autism here at Care Network, please contact our friendly team on: 01254 507255.