UK Research and Innovation is looking for UK registered equity investors to partner with us in the Healthy Ageing Investment Accelerator.

This competition aims to deliver innovation in the ‘healthy ageing’ market as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s Healthy Ageing Challenge.

£12 million for healthy ageing innovation

Working in partnership with investors, Innovate UK, as part of UK Research and Innovation, will distribute a share of up to £12 million in grants to micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises.

The competition will stimulate private investment in business-led research and development, to grow and bring to market ideas for healthy ageing products and services that have potential to be adopted on a wide scale.

Phase 1

In this first phase of the competition we are recruiting investors to participate. To be selected you must:

• be a UK registered equity investor
• commit to identifying a portfolio of healthy ageing technology micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises you are willing to invest in
• demonstrate you have, or can raise on demand, enough capital to equal Innovate UK’s grant and provide the additional follow-on funding

Investors can apply for £1 million to £6 million.

The investor partners we select will work to:

• identify innovative SMEs working in healthy ageing technology that are suitable for investment but outside your typical risk preference, which might involve changing your target market
• help those SMEs deliver a healthy ageing project, with 50% of the total eligible project costs grant funded and the remaining 50% from equity investment into the business

Phase 2

In phase 2 our chosen investors will put forward SMEs for funding, by invitation only.

All funded projects will need to show how they tackle one or more of the following essential challenges of older life:

• sustaining physical activity
• maintaining health at work
• design for age-friendly homes
• creating healthy, active places
• supporting social connections
• living well with cognitive impairment
• managing common complaints of ageing

We expect funded SME projects will have total eligible project costs of between £100,000 and £1.5 million.

Key dates

The competition opens on 19 August. There will be a briefing for potential investors on 10 September. The closing date for investor applications is 6 November 2019 at midday.

The two-day conference received over 1,500 participants from across the world: world leaders, journalists, civil society, and academics discussed the issues of violence and harassment against the free press. The main output of the discussions was a Global Pledge on Media Freedom, signed at the conference by representatives of governments from around the world.

The British Embassy Ulaanbaatar organised for Mr. Lkhagva Erdene, board member of the Mongolian Press Institute, Ms. Bolortuya Chuluunbaatar, editor-in-chief of Ikon News Agency, and Mr. Anand Tumurtogoo, freelance journalist to attend the conference. The Mongolian delegates provided their thoughts on the conference on their social media channels, and recorded a video for the British Embassy Ulaanbaatar’s social channels to promote media freedom in Mongolia.

Every day around the world journalists risk their lives to report the news for us. To defend media freedom, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland announced the creation of a Global Media Defence Fund, which will support, train and provide legal support for journalists in the most dangerous parts of the world. The UK committed £3 million to the new fund. Separately, the UK has contributed £15 million to the Protecting Media Freedom programme, a Department for International Development funded-initiative that seeks to tackle the root causes of the global crisis in independent media.

More beds, new cutting-edge equipment and additional wards will be delivered at hospitals across the country, as the Prime Minister confirms a new £1.8 billion NHS cash injection.

Visiting a Lincolnshire hospital today, Boris Johnson will announce the 20 hospitals set to share £850 million of new funding to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment – helping improve patient care and ultimately save more lives.

The Prime Minister will also confirm a £1 billion boost to NHS capital spending, allowing existing upgrade programmes to proceed and tackling the most urgent infrastructure projects.

Later this week, the Health Secretary will also set out further changes to the NHS pension scheme to support senior doctors and GPs taking on extra shifts.

Ahead of his visit today, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

The NHS is always there for us – free at the point of use for everyone in the country.

With our doctors and nurses working tirelessly day in day out, this treasured institution truly showcases the very best of Britain.

That’s why I made it my immediate task to make sure frontline services have the funding they need, to make a real difference to the lives of NHS staff, and above all, of patients.

Today I’m delivering on this promise with a £1.8 billion cash injection – meaning more beds, new wards, and extra life-saving equipment to ensure patients continue to receive world-class care.

It’s time to face up to this challenge and make sure the NHS receives the funds it needs, to continue being the best healthcare service in the world.

Today’s announcement delivers on the Prime Minister’s pledge when entering Downing Street to urgently upgrade 20 hospitals, and ensure money invested in the NHS is reaching the frontline as soon as possible.

On the visit later today, Boris Johnson is expected to speak to doctors, nurses and other frontline staff to hear directly their thoughts on where the NHS could be better supported.

The £1.8 billion funding is in addition to the extra £33.9 billion, in cash terms, the NHS is set to receive every year by 2023/24 through the Long Term Plan agreed last year. Over £1 billion of this will be spent this year, meaning an annual increase in the NHS’s capital budget of 30%.

The devolved administrations will receive additional Barnett funding in the normal way; indicative allocations are around £110 million for Wales, £180 million for Scotland and £60 million for Northern Ireland.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid said:

Thanks to the hard work of the British people, and the fundamental strength of our economy, we’re in a position to further increase funding for our NHS, ensuring quick access to quality healthcare for those who need it.

This £1.8 billion for frontline services will not just go towards better equipment and technology, but important upgrades of hospitals across the country.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

I love the NHS – and so do the millions of taxpayers and their families cared for by our NHS every month. We owe it to them to make sure they can get the best treatment in the best hospitals.

On top of the extra £33.9 billion a year we are giving the NHS, today we are making a downpayment for the future of NHS buildings and facilities, with a £1.8 billion fund to revitalise our hospitals and immediate funding for bigger wards, better mental health units, and state of the art children’s hospitals in areas that need them the most.

This is just the start of our Health Infrastructure Plan, with patients set to see and feel the benefits for years to come.

Chief Executive of NHS England Simon Stevens said:

This is a significant start to the much needed capital investment so that our nurses, doctors and other NHS staff will be able to care for their patients in modern facilities with state of the art equipment.

The concrete steps being set out this week will mean investment flows directly to frontline services, providing new clinics and wards. As they come on line, as part of our NHS Long Term Plan, patients will benefit from reduced waits for treatment and wider upgrades to the quality of care the health service is able to offer.

The 20 hospitals set to be upgraded, at a cost of £850 million, include:

East of England

• Luton & Dunstable University Hospital NHS FT – £99.5 million for a new block in Luton to provide critical and intensive care, as well as a delivery suite and operating theatres.
• Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS FT – £69.7 million to provide Diagnostic and Assessment Centres in Norwich, Great Yarmouth and Kings Lynn to aid rapid diagnosis and assessment of cancer and non-cancerous disease.
• Norfolk and Suffolk NHS FT – £40 million to build 4 new hospital wards in Norwich, providing 80 beds.
• NHS South Norfolk CCG – £25.2 million to develop and improve primary care services in South Norfolk.

Midlands

• University Hospitals Birmingham – £97.1 million to provide a new purpose built hospital facility in Birmingham, replacing outdated outpatient, treatment and diagnostic accommodation.
• United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust – £21.3 million to improve patient flow in Boston by developing urgent and emergency care zones in A&E.
• Wye Valley NHS Trust – £23.6 million to provide new hospital wards in Hereford, providing 72 beds. University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust – £17.6 million to create 3 new modern wards to improve capacity and patient flow in Stoke, delivering approximately 84 beds for this winter.

London

• Barking, Havering and Redbridge CCGs and North East London NHS Foundation Trust – £17 million to develop a new health and wellbeing hub in North East London.
• Croydon Health Services NHS Trust – £12.7 million to extend and refurbish critical care units at the Croydon University Hospital, Croydon.

North East and Yorkshire

• South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Integrated Care System – £57.5 million for primary Care investment across South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw.
• The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – £41.7 million to improve Paediatric Cardiac Services in the North East.
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – £12 million to provide a single Laboratory Information Management System across West Yorkshire and Harrogate, covering all pathology disciplines.

North West

• Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – £72.3 million to build a new adult mental health inpatient unit in Manchester.
• Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust – £33 million to provide a new 40 bed low secure unit for people with learning disabilities.
• Stockport NHS FT – £30.6 million to provide a new Emergency Care Campus Development at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, incorporating an Urgent Treatment Centre, GP assessment unit and Planned Investigation Unit.
• NHS Wirral CCG – £18 million to improve patient flow in Wirral by improving access via the Urgent Treatment Centre.
• Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust – £16.3 million to provide Emergency and urgent care facilities at Tameside General Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne.

South East

• Isle of Wight NHS Trust – £48 million to redesign acute services for Isle of Wight residents.

South West

• Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust – £99.9 million to build a new Women’s and Children’s Hospital in the centre of the Royal Cornwall Hospital site in Truro.

New Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers today visited Whaley Bridge where she met with emergency response teams working around the clock to fix a breach at Toddbrook Reservoir.

The Environment Secretary was joined by Environment Agency Chair Emma Howard Boyd and spoke to senior officials, including Chief Executive of the Canal and Riverside Trust Richard Parry, Derbyshire Police incident commander Inspector Adam Wilkins and RAF Squadron Leader John Plenty – who briefed them on the current measures being undertaken to fix the dam.

Measures include the use of RAF Chinook to drop over 400 sandbags, and the use of pumps to remove excess water from the reservoir – levels continue to fall as the operation to pump away water continues, with a current reduction of 1.3 metres.

The Secretary of State then visited the Rest Centre at Chapel-en-le-Frith school, which is being used as a community hub, where she met with residents who have been evacuated from their homes. About 1500 people were evacuated, but were allowed to return home today for a short period of time in order to collect essential belongings and pets.

Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers said:

My thoughts are with the people who have had to leave their homes. Having spoken today to some of those evacuated I know how difficult this situation is for them and I pay tribute to their patience and fortitude. It’s been wonderful to see the community support and spirit in Whaley Bridge.

I want to thank all emergency services, military personnel, Environment Agency and volunteers for their continued hard work. I am confident that everything that can be done is being done and I’ve seen a reassuring amount of progress today.

Chair of the Environment Agency, Emma Howard Boyd said:

Visiting Whaley Bridge today it was amazing to see the pure dedication of the teams at work here. Not just those in the Environment Agency – of whom I am immensely proud – but the numerous other organisations that are working tirelessly to keep the community safe.

Real progress has been made, and after seeing our pumps and the RAF Chinooks at work today I am confident we are doing all we can to lower the water levels and secure the dam.

All teams on site continue to work to ensure the structural integrity of the dam and a progress update will be made in due course. The Environment Agency continue to monitor the flood risk closely.

The NDA, the organisation responsible for decommissioning and cleaning up the nearby Dounreay site in Caithness, was main sponsor for the games – heralded as an exemplar for fairness and inclusion in sport and competition.

Celebrating sport and culture in the far north Highlands, the 2019 games championed equality in gender and ability.

Winners were given the same level of prize regardless of whether they were female, male or adaptive athletes.

David Peattie, Chief Executive of the NDA, attended the Mey Games, and said:

Embracing equality, diversity and inclusion across sport will serve to further inspire athletes to perform at their best – just as it inspires others in society. It is these principles that the NDA group holds at its heart.

We are committed to investing in the communities around our sites and the Mey Games is an event of real significance to the Caithness community.

David presented three new trophies to the top female, male and adaptive athletes. These will be presented in future games.

STEM ambassadors from Dounreay were on hand during the day to promote the work being done to inspire young people into science, technology, engineering and maths.

The NDA also donated a ‘build-your-own-robot’ which was raffled and the proceeds of which will go to the Lifeboats Association.

Martin Moore, Managing Director of Dounreay, said:

I am delighted that some of our apprentices were part of the event, making STEM subjects interesting and fun, with the activities they regularly deliver in Caithness and North Sutherland schools.

We are incredibly proud to have a strong network of more than 80 STEM ambassadors who make a real difference, promoting science and engineering subjects in the community. This is just one of the positive things that we can do to ensure the area continues to have the right skills to attract and maintain high quality, sustainable employment in the future.

In 2018, Mey Highland Games became the first in Scotland to introduce an adaptive element, inviting para athletes to take part.

The event, held at the Show Ground fields in John O’Groats, includes all the favourites of a traditional Highland Games.