Discover more about our members and digital health community.
Introducing: Lambeth Links
Click through to find out more about our newest community supporters Lambeth Links.
We’re proud to welcome our newest Community Supporters, Lambeth Links, to Health Foundry. Read on to find out more about who they are and what they from their CEO Chris French.
Lambeth Links is the LGBTQ+ forum for Lambeth, which is home to the largest resident population of LGBTQ+ people in the UK.
February is an important month for us. It’s LGBTQ+ History Month and also the anniversary of Lambeth Links becoming a registered charity. As a totally volunteer led organisation, it’s a proud achievement for us!
I founded Lambeth Links as I saw a need for a central point of rallying and coordinating on behalf of our community. There are so many missing links across social care, housing, police interactions and most importantly, health.
It’s one of the reasons I’m so excited to be able to base Lambeth Links out of Health Foundry and to get to know you, what you do and how we can work together to help make Lambeth a vanguard in LGBTQ+ health provision.
My personal ambition is to turn Lambeth into a place that others look to as shining example of how to engage and include the LGBTQ+ community in their healthcare needs, be they mental, physical or sexual.
Words: Chris French (Lambeth Links)
If you're interested in connecting with Chris or Lambeth Links, don't hesitate to drop him an email here. Find out more about Lambeth Links' LGBTQ+ History Month events here.
Member Feature: MyHero
Click through to read more about our member of the month.
Our Member Feature this month is on one of our newest members MyHero; a child centred organisation leveraging the power of technology to change the lives of children with life limiting conditions.
Have you ever had a hero? If yes, who was your Hero? Can you imagine what it would have been like to meet your hero growing up as a young child?
Millions of children are living in stark reality, having to face and overcome a lot of challenges at a young age. Research has revealed a significant rise in the number of children living with life limiting conditions over the past 17 years. The number of children in England with life limiting or life threatening conditions have increased to 86,625 in 2017/18 compared to 32,975 in 2001/02. This is an increase from 7 per 10,000 in 2001 to 66.4 per 10,000 in 2017/18. This number is predicted to increase by 11% or more by 2030.
In a time where provision capacity of existing organisations were impacted as a result of coronavirus, there is a call for innovation to ensure that wishes of children living with critical illness are fulfilled by giving them the opportunity to connect easily with their heroes. As the future becomes increasingly digital, the need for alignment and strategy becomes essential.
Welcome to MyHero, a purpose driven healthtech organisation striving to harness the power of technology for greater social change. MyHero was founded by Chukwuebuka Okwor, who was born into a family of health care workers.
Chuk has built up 5 + years of experience working in healthcare as a nurse. Witnessing the effect the pandemic had on third sector organisations and frustrated by the lack of sufficient traditional support for children living with life-limiting conditions, his life work is now to leverage technology as a bridge between children and their heroes.
In a bid to help solve the deep seated inefficiencies which were exacerbated by the pandemic, MyHero is in the process of developing an app to link children living with life limiting/critical conditions with their heroes. The vision is to create lasting memories and positively impact the life of the children by giving them he opportunity to connect with influential public figures they look up to through a flexible, convenient, safe and secure platform.
The benefit created goes beyond the technology, as it can lead to a tangible impact on these children's mental and emotional wellbeing. While lockdown might have eased, covid remains a part of life. The digitisation service provided by MyHero will be critical in ensuring a continued level of safety. It will help protect service users who are still vulnerable due to their condition while, at the same time, allowing them to experience the impact of connecting with their heroes.
Digital revolution has transformed many aspects of life. Even as our lives return to some form of normality we face some inevitable changes. People and organisations all over the world have had to adjust to new ways of work and life by adapting to technology. Through strategic partnerships with children’s hospitals, existing charity and various organisations, we strive to leverage technology to achieve our mission to create lasting memories for these children, even if for a brief moment.
Alone we can do so much. Together we can achieve more.
Health Foundry Newsletter: February 2022
It’s February, and LGBTQ+ History Month! Click through to read more about our new partnerships, upcoming events, opportunities and more.
Happy February!
Health Foundry is very committed to diversity and inclusion in digital health, so we're proud to introduce our first Female Founders Network, as well as our recent partnership with local LGBTQ+ community forum Lambeth Links.
You can read more about the Female Founders Network and our introductory breakfast in this month’s newsletter, as well as an article written by Lambeth Links Founder Chris French about this amazing community forum, what they do, and their upcoming events this LGBTQ+ History Month.
We're constantly exploring ways in which we can diversify our community, if you're interested in joining us in conversations and action, don't hesitate to get in touch.
You can read our February newsletter here and subscribe to our mailing list below.
Lunch & Learn: Innovation Funding & Research and Development Tax Credits
We partnered with our Community Supporters Claim Capital for a webinar on increasing your startup’s cashflow. Click through to find out more.
We partnered with one of our Community Supporters and R&D Tax Credits experts Claim Capital for our first Lunch & Learn of 2022. Read on to read more about the engaging session on Innovation Funding and Research and Development Tax Credits.
Claim Capital provides a personalised, end-to-end R&D Tax Credit and Grant Writing services for hundreds of innovative UK companies, startups and SMEs, with over 20 years of combined technical experience.
One of their experts and our newest Community Supporter Sophie Scoular joined us online for an informative Lunch & Learn on increasing your startup’s cashflow through R&D Tax Credits and Grant Funding.
Sophie kicked off the webinar explaining R&D Tax Credits; one of the biggest tax relief schemes implemented by the government to encourage innovation within the UK. However, 90% of eligible companies are not claiming.
To remedy this, Claim Capital provide R&D consultancy services, including:
Full R&D Report Submission
Financial Report
Technical Report
HMRC Enquiry Services
& more
Sophie also gave us a grant funding overview, specifically on the Innovate UK Smart Grant, and explained why startups and SMEs should be applying:
It’s free! Non-repayable funds given by a government department or a public or private sector to a recipient
Doesn’t dilute equity! Can provide valuable funding for your innovative projects without diluting equity
100% guranteed! One approved, you’ll have sole access to every penny of your grant funds
As well as R&D Tax Credits expertise, Claim Capital also provide grant writing services. They can:
Identify the most appropriate grant for your business
Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria and identify the information required
Work with your business to complete and submit the grant application, ensuring you have the greatest success.
If you’re a startup or SME, there’s a great chance that you’ll be incurring Research & Development expenses, or have plans to do so in the future. If you want to explore methods of funding innovation, or are unhappy with your existing R&D Tax Advisor, Claim Capital are the experts for you!
If you’d like a copy of Sophie’s presentation on R&D Tax Credits and Grant Funding, get in touch here. If you’re a Health Foundry member, you can schedule free consultations with Sophie for R&D Tax Credits and Innovation Funding support, just contact us to book.
Member Feature: Loft Digital
Click through to read more about our member of the month.
This month's feature is on one of our members, event partners and digital consultancy Loft Digital.
Hello - we are Loft Digital, an award winning digital consultancy and software developer founded in 2007, with particular expertise in the health space.
Our mission is to help our clients have the best possible digital technology and strategy for their business, by working in close partnership with them at a senior level, and bringing in additional technical expertise where needed.
Loft's senior digital health team are Nick Nettleton (CEO & Founder), Helen Akoni (product), Sam Scarles (Front-End) and Rimvydas Zilinskas (Engineering).
We have decades of experience across the full digital health product lifecycle, both developing and advising on technology. Between us we have led the development of Fast Track 100 brands, worked with over 40 NHS Trusts, and helped countless startups get off the ground. We also partner with world-leading organisations such as Moorfields Eye Hospital and UCL on Innovate UK and HDRUK funded projects, and have experience helping clients to secure funding, as well as complete major business sales and acquisitions.
But we know that it is often the little things that count, and as a small, senior team we can be very flexible and offer anything from a few hours consulting right through to major platform development projects. We are keen to support startups as early as possible in their journey, to help get the right foundations in place, and earn a place as a trusted tech advisor to your executive team to help navigate the challenges of growing a business.
Learn more about our work at https://www.loftdigital.com/.
Together with Health Foundry, we organise a series of informal in-person networking events for digital health professionals, covering topics such as 'Things I learned from 10 years working in digital health' and 'Design considerations for digital health data'. Due to the current COVID situation our next event 'Founder Stories' will be virtual. If you're interested in attending, you can book your free place here.
We also did a recent talk for Barclays Eagle Labs Healthtech with the theme 'Five Design Considerations for Digital Health Data' which can be viewed here.
Words: Loft Digital
If you have any questions for the Loft Digital team or want to find out more about their work, don't hesitate to contact Nick or Helen.