We’ve been working on Innovate to Save for a while now - publicly since February this year but behind the scenes for far longer. When you’re plugging away at the design of a programme, it’s hard to visualise what your first set of funded projects might look like so getting a cohort together - in a room, talking about their work - is always a brilliant feeling.

This group of projects - our first to be funded to undertake research and development through the Innovate to Save programme - are an impressive group of organisations. All have embraced what we’re looking to do; not just in terms of the long-term outcomes of improving services and generating savings, but also in terms of the process. They’re an open, inquisitive group, keen to get started on their research and development journey and to find out if their ideas hold water.

They’re tackling subjects like looked-after children, social care and patient transport and, most importantly, they’re doing this collaboratively.

They represent a broad cross section of both the public and third sectors in Wales. We have health boards and local authorities; charities that are just getting started and some that have been delivering services for over 50 years; organisations that operate nationally and some that are hyper-local. They’re tackling subjects like looked-after children, social care and patient transport and, most importantly, they’re doing this collaboratively.

The projects are:

• Cardiff South West GP Cluster
• Fabric
• Grow Cardiff
• Gwynedd Council​
• Innovate Trust​
• Leonard Cheshire Disability
• Llamau
• Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust​

As with any R&D process, we know that some projects will work and some won’t. Part of our job is to be open and share the lessons that come out of these projects, so that others can build on the knowledge they generate, rather than replicating the same failures or mistakes.

We’ll be doing that through this website over the next six months so do keep checking in for updates on the progress. For now, take a look at the overviews of each of our projects.