Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development Fund

The Department of Health has announced a new round of up to £6million worth of funding to support charities to improve people’s health and wellbeing.

The Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development (IESD) Fund is awarded to voluntary groups that work towards improving the health and wellbeing of people across England.

The size of the fund for 2014/15 is still to be decided, but will be between £5million and £6million, with no upper limit on funding charities could receive. In the 2013/14 round of the fund, the largest award to a charity was £400,000.

The money charities are awarded will go towards testing and developing new ways of working in the health and social care system that will improve people’s health and well-being, achieve good outcomes in health and social care, and the sector develop sustainable business models for the future.

This year the IESD fund will be awarded to voluntary groups that also demonstrate a commitment to some of the current key priorities in the health and care system, including personalisation and choice of care and support, and improving long-term care and support.

In the last funding round (2013-14), 49 new projects received funding through the scheme at a total cost of £5.5million for the year. These projects are now being implemented across the country, and cover a range of different areas including addressing health inequalities in men, increasing levels of physical activity in children and supporting people living with dementia and their carers.

For further information on the fund visit www.gov.uk/government/publications/voluntary-sector-funding-available-for-health-and-care-projects.

The fund is now open for applications. To apply register online by noon on Friday 11 October and complete your application by noon on Friday 25 October.

For further information on how to apply visit https://wm.hee.nhs.uk/2013/08/23/innovation-excellence-and-strategic-development-iesd-fund-is-now-open-for-2014-15-applications.