The £14m Innovation Fund is being managed by Nesta, the UK's innovation foundation, and will focus on a small number of big social challenges - from helping older people to age well to supporting young people to get into work - where it is demonstrable how social action can make a difference and is under-exploited by the existing approach of public services.  

The first round of the fund is looking for innovative ventures and programmes that use social action to achieve impact in four areas:

Ageing well: Helping people to age well, particularly by supporting people over 50 years to have a purpose, a sense of well-being and to be connected to others

Long-term health: Enabling people with long-term health conditions to have a better quality of life, particularly through the use of peer to peer networks and groups

Young people: Supporting and encouraging young people to succeed and find employment, for example through mentoring, coaching, and peer-to-peer networks

Impact volunteering: Using new approaches to 'impact volunteering' to mobilise volunteers to increase and enhance the outcomes achieved by public services 

The fund is open to applications from public services, charities, social enterprises and for profit businesses. 

Philip Colligan, executive director of Nesta's Public Services Lab and a Government adviser on social innovation, comments, "We know that social action - people helping people - can make a huge difference to some of the biggest challenges facing communities and the public services they rely on.  

"From supporting older people to age well to helping young people to get jobs, through the Innovation Fund we want to support the most promising innovations to reach and benefit more people."

The Innovation Fund can provide financial support - from £50,000 to £500,000 - and non-financial support, including advice and helping to make connections with purchasers and investors. Ventures and programmes selected will be expected to harness social action to work alongside public services and be sustainable as well as supported by a strong management team. They will also be expected to commit to rigorous measurement1of their impact.

Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said, "To succeed as a country we have to develop better responses to our social challenges. That should include more opportunities for active citizens to get involved. We are excited by the opportunity to support programmes that mobilise people to help people. Early evidence shows it can make an enormous difference to outcomes and wellbeing. We want to build on that."

The Innovation Fund will be open for two years from April 2013 and will look for innovations in specific priorities. The first four priorities were announced today and are expected to be open for applications for six months (until the end of October 2013). Further priorities will be opened for applications in due course. 

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Notes to editor:  

For media enquiries about the Centre for Social Action please contact Ben King at the Cabinet Office on 0207 267 1447. For media enquiries about the Innovation in Giving Fund please contact Sarah Reardon at Nesta on 020 7438 2606 or email [email protected] 

1Nesta's Standards of Evidence for Impact Investing:

The Centre for Social Action is a new Cabinet Office initiative. Over 2013/14 - 2014/15 the Centre for Social Action will invest around £36m to provide support and finance to charities, public services and civil society organisations who want to mobilise people to take part in social action.

About Nesta:

Nesta is the UK's innovation foundation. We help people and organisations bring great ideas to life. We do this by providing investments and grants and mobilising research, networks and skills.  We are an independent charity and our work is enabled by an endowment from the National Lottery.