The National Care Forum (NCF) – the leading association for not-for-profit social care is looking ahead to the 2026 Care Innovation Challenge Weekend where industry mentors and lived-experience experts guide budding innovators looking to develop new solutions to the biggest challenges facing the care and support sector. A range of individual and team participants from a variety of backgrounds are preparing to take part in this creative weekend of idea generation and prototype trialling which has birthed some amazing innovations over the last few years included Ellyfe, DentaBlue and Making Space’s Making It Real Game.
The Challenge Weekend will again return to the Technocentre at Coventry University, a space dedicated to nurturing the start-up and development of innovation-led, high-growth, knowledge-based businesses, and will take place on 27th and 28th June. Applicants will take part in a two-day incubator programme and receive mentoring from a wide range ofexperts. Five semi-finalists will secure funding and further mentoring to prepare for the Care Innovation Challenge Final at the Birmingham Care Show on 7th and 8th October. The winning team will receive £1,000 in prize money and further mentoring to continue developing their innovation into a viable solution.
Among the innovations that will be developed during this hackathon-style weekend, with the help of a varied range of expert mentors with deep industry knowledge and lived experience of care and support, are a cognitive assessment toolkit, an AI risk monitoringplatform, an oral health solution and a product idea designed to support nonspeaking adults with communication.
Amy Lewis, Managing Director of Just Checking is delighted to be joining the Challenge this year as a mentor and said: “After more than two decades working in social care, I’ve experienced first-hand the journey from identifying problems to developing practical solutions. For me, innovation in social care is about improving everyday life for the people who draw on support. Social care is an adaptable and constantly evolving sector because it must respond to the challenges people face in living the lives they choose.
“I’m particularly looking forward to meeting the teams during the Challenge Weekend, hearing their stories, and understanding the problems they are passionate about solving. Some of the most powerful ideas come from people with lived experience of the challenges they are seeking to address, and I’m excited to learn from their perspectives.”
Professor Vic Rayner, CEO of NCF said: “I’m excited to see what this year’s participants bring to the Care Innovation Challenge and am eager to find out how their ideas develop and grow over the weekend with the guidance of our expert mentors. It sounds like we are going to see some really interesting ideas come to life that focus in on wellbeing and person-centred practice for both older and working age adults with a complex range of needs.
“As the brilliant, creative innovation happening as part of the Adult Social Care Testbed we are delivering in partnership with the University of Liverpool comes to the attention of those close to government, the Challenge weekend couldn’t come at a better time. The Care Innovation Challenge programme provides the ongoing mentorship and nurturing that the solutions of the future need to propel them forward to become the tools of the future that will help ensure people are not excluded from the benefits that digital and data-driven service delivery will bring. We’re keen to continue to highlight to government just how much the care and support sector is focused on a digital future that will see more people supported to use technology so they can maintain the choice, control and independence they need to enjoy their daily lives.”
