Healthier Futures Fund
£2m fund to support Healthier Futures now live
Applications are now live for our new fund to support the health and wellbeing of local people.
The Healthier Futures fund makes £2 million available to Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) partners across the area to deliver health and wellbeing improvements for their local people and communities.
The grants will support initiatives that focus on the key priorities for NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, and the wider Integrated Care System (ICS), including:
- Children’s & young people’s mental health
- Frailty
- People who use health services very frequently
- People who have an irreversible progressive disease or medical condition that can significantly impact on quality of life
- Cardiovascular disease (including but not limited to smoking cessation)
- Supporting people who are medically fit to leave hospital
Kit Connick, Chief Officer Strategy and Partnerships at NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, part of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough ICS, explains:
“Our diverse VCSE sector are already working at the heart of our communities. No-one knows our local people better than they do, which is why we’ve invested £2 million to support innovation in the sector.
“The Healthier Futures fund will help reach thousands of local people, empowering individuals, supporting families and individuals, and strengthening communities. Ultimately, delivering health and wellbeing improvements that really work for our local people and communities.
“The fund is open to VCSE organisations of all sizes, from hyper local community groups to larger charities. We have also invested in support for organisations and partnerships who want to make a bid, with Cambridgeshire Community Foundation and our local Council for Voluntary Services (CVS), Cambridge CVS, Hunts Forum and Peterborough CVS ready to help interested parties.”
The funding can be used to support VCSE organisations to launch new projects that will help to tackle some key health and wellbeing related issues in our area, and tackle health inequalities.
Michael O'Toole, CEO of Cambridgeshire Community Foundation which is administering the grant programme on behalf of the local NHS, added:
“We are really proud to be partnering with Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System on the Healthier Futures Fund. This fund will mean community-led projects will be supported to improve health and wellbeing for people, especially those facing greater challenges or disadvantages.
“The Healthier Futures Fund will improve communities’ ability to live healthy and happy lives across Cambridgeshire. Cambridgeshire Community Foundation is the charity for Cambridgeshire, working towards a better quality of life for people across the county. The Foundation identifies the most critical needs of local communities, raises funds and awards grants to non-profit organisations that make a big impact in addressing those needs.”
Any VCSE partner that wants to apply can find out more information via this page on the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation website.