Healthier Futures Fund

Fund criteria

The fund will support initiatives that focus on the key priorities for NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough and the wider Integrated Care System, 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 their quality of life
• Cardiovascular disease (including, but not limited to, smoking cessation)
• Supporting people who are medically fit to leave hospital

All projects must use the ICS design principles:

• Think local – Everything should be done as near as possible to where people live their lives.
• Keep it simple – For both residents and staff, remove all unnecessary layers that add limited value.
• Do it together – Partners integrate to get better results, including voluntary sector and small providers.
• Prove it – Use evidence to show the impact of what we are doing.

We want to encourage wide engagement in the development and delivery of bids, with VCSE partners leading, but also joining with other system partners including other VCSE organisations.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate that the following criteria has also been considered whilst developing the scheme:

• Specification: Does the scheme meet one of the key objectives set out in the ICS vision
• Innovation: Does the scheme introduce a new or original adaptive way of working?
• Understanding: Does the scheme demonstrate a knowledge of the issue it is trying to resolve and the people and communities it will focus on?
• Health inequalities impact: Will the scheme have a significant impact in addressing health inequalities?
• Purchasing/employment: Does it widen access to work and/or purchase more locally and for social benefit?
• Environmental: Does it reduce carbon impact and use existing buildings, space and resources?
• Quality: Is the scheme fit for purpose and has the project met any relevant safety, governance, security or other applicable standards?
• Integration: Does the scheme evidence engagement and collaboration?

Projects must be delivered in the Cambridgeshire (including Peterborough) area to the benefit of people and communities in Cambridgeshire and to target groups of people specified in the vision.

VCSE is defined for the purposes of this bid process as a registered charity in the UK whose charity’s purposes include supporting people and communities in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough; A member of Social Enterprise UK; or a registered community interest company. Other organisations must partner with a lead member who fulfils this criteria.

VCSEs must be registered with the Real Living Wage in order to be eligible to receive this funding. Organisations can submit applications without being registered, but no funds will be released until registration has been confirmed. It is permissible to include up to £60 registration fee as a line in the proposed project budget to cover this cost.

Projects can be developed with private sector, public sector bodies and NHS organisations, providing they have the support of the VCSE lead bidder (defined as above) who will be responsible for delivery.

Schemes must be delivered with the involvement and contribution of the integrated neighbourhood partners relevant to the target groups of people in the local area.

Funding is non-recurrent and the grant process is managed by Cambridgeshire Community Foundation. Beyond this funding allocation, should the initiative be continued, an alternative source of funding should be identified.

Eligible expenditure

• Materials related to your project
• Staff costs associated specifically and exclusively with the project
• Infrastructure crucial to the delivery or testing of your project such as equipment, internet subscriptions, etc.
• Hire of venues or facilities to host activities directly related to the project
• Consultants or expert advice
• Web, media or marketing materials for your project
• Any activities beneficial to the development of your project

Ineligible expenditure

• Organisational running costs (e.g. existing staffing, moving services online, installing or upgrading internet connectivity at your organisation’s office, or computers and mobile phones for staff that are not directly related to the project)
• Wages for staff that are not at least the Real Living Wage
• Additional top-up funds to an existing project already funded by a public sector body, unless there is a clear rationale for this
• The continuation of business as usual for an organisation
• Anything already covered by core funding or otherwise already funded

If you require other variations of the Foundation’s logos, please refer to the application guidance for more options. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please email info@cambscf.org.uk