We spoke to some of our 2025-26 project hosts, to find out about why they applied and what their aspirations for their projects are. Find out more below:
Demonstrators
Conwy County Borough Council:
We’re delighted to be working with IMPACT to help us progress our Inclusive Conwy Plan 2024-2028 and to help us strengthen inclusivity in our organisation via our project. Our organisational vision is to be “a progressive county creating opportunity”, and our focus will be to work with IMPACT to ensure we remove barriers and create equity, accessibility and opportunities for employment for all. Our aim is to make all our practices and policies fully inclusive, eliminating discrimination, promoting equality, and fostering inclusion in everything we do, and to share our learning journey with our partners so that our partnership work with IMPACT is shared as wide as possible.
Wrexham Council
This project aims to create a more inclusive, person-centred and sustainable care system in Wrexham. We want to better align with the principles of strengths-based care in our communities by getting the right care in place at the right time. We have a well-established provider market in Wrexham and would like to collaborate with our partners to maximise our resources to improve outcomes for citizens in Wrexham. We are excited to have this opportunity to work with the IMPACT team to explore the possibilities to innovate our service offer.
Lena Canavan, Southern Health and Social Care Trust Head Of Specialist Services:
On behalf of the Southern Health and Social Care Trust, and in partnership with Northern Ireland’s other Health and Social Care Trusts and Vela Microboards NI, I would like to say how delighted we are to have been successful in securing support from IMPACT to help establish and implement an outcomes-based evaluation tool to evidence how Self Directed Support delivers better outcomes for individuals supported across Northern Ireland.
Against the current backdrop of increased demand for social care support and a shift towards outcomes-based social care policy, it is hoped that this project will evidence how Self Directed Support is enhancing the quality of life for individuals in receipt of social care support and through engaging with people with lived experience and practitioners, underpin the progress Self Directed Support continues to make in promoting person-centred care and support.
Calderdale Council
Calderdale Council, alongside Accessible Calderdale, are delighted to be successful in securing support through the IMPACT Demonstrator Project. Calderdale is on a journey to transform our Direct Payments, ensuring we can offer real choice, control and independence for individuals. We are doing this alongside our communities, those with lived experience and individuals in receipt of Direct Payments to ensure that we get it right! The IMPACT Demonstrator will support us in this, on a basis of continual evaluation and reflection, whilst ensuring that our social care workforce can act as enablers for change. We’re excited about the opportunities this will present to support our strengths based – community first approach, whilst underpinning learning to support future development.
Derbyshire Council
Having worked with IMPACT in 2023/2024 as members of the East Midlands ADASS region we have benefited from the collaboration resulting in our new Waiting Well arrangements. This first-hand experience or working with IMPACT gave us the confidence to make the application to become a ‘demonstrator’ site, knowing that we would be challenged and supported by people with vast experience and skills within the social care improvement sector and aligned values which also promote the collaboration, involvement and development of people who draw upon and work within the sector. IMPACT’s involvement will best enable us to review and integrate diverse stakeholder knowledge, develop workforce skills, and contribute to broader sector learning as an IMPACT Demonstrator.
Facilitators
Kate Allen, Chief Executive, Ategi:
Investing in our workforce is key to delivering high-quality care and making a positive difference to the lives of people receiving care and support. The impact of staffing challenges across adult social care is wide-reaching, not only directly affecting the quality of people with additional needs, but the ongoing unavailability of care and support is also an increasing contributor to failing health care provision.
High turnover rates, low pay, high stress and demanding working conditions all contribute to escalating recruitment costs at a time when government funding is under enormous pressure. This project will concentrate efforts on the initiatives, tools and resources that could aid the retention of skilled and dedicated staff, thereby preventing unnecessarily expenditure on recruitment alongside maintaining quality and consistency of support, and vital relationships, for those receiving care and support.
We want to foster a supportive and sustainable work environment for all dedicated care professionals and by partnering with IMPACT, we aim to explore effective strategies and practices that will not only enhance job satisfaction but also ensure the well-being and professional growth of our staff – in turn positively impacting on the lives of many receiving services.
Graham Galloway, Meeting Centres Scotland CEO:
Developing a co-produced Quality Standards Framework is a vital step in our journey to provide consistent, high-quality dementia support across Scotland. By working with IMPACT, and particularly with an IMPACT Facilitator, we are not only strengthening our network but also ensuring that every Meeting Centre remains deeply rooted in the needs and voices of the communities we serve.
This framework will empower our centres to deliver person-centred care, foster collaboration with local partners, and demonstrate our commitment to transparency and accountability. Together, we are building a future where every person living with dementia and their families can access the support they need, tailored to their unique circumstances.
We are thrilled to be working with an IMPACT Facilitator on this transformative project, as their expertise and shared values perfectly align with our mission. This collaboration represents an exciting opportunity to create lasting, meaningful change for people living with dementia across Scotland.
Border Links
Border Links is excited to be working with IMPACT looking at encouraging young people to develop careers in social care.
We have many staff of varying ages, all of whom bring their own unique skills to the business but we do find very few younger people apply for positions. We understand the benefits of employing people of all age groups and as we work with many younger people it would be valuable to have staff who could relate to them directly. Career opportunities in Social Care are wide and varied and perhaps we need to show those starting out what this career choice could entail and the enjoyment they could get from it along with breaking down some the stereotypes and myths surrounding work in social care.
Brain Injury Matters NI
Why would we want to get involved with IMPACT:
Brain Injury Matters NI (BIM) and IMPACT share a common goal of improving adult social care, making collaboration highly beneficial. This partnership would also provide opportunities for participation in innovative projects, such as co-produced training for health and social care professionals, which should ultimately enhance rehabilitation and social care services. Additionally, IMPACT’s emphasis on co-production aligns with BIM’s mission to empower all those impacted by ABI, ensuring their voices shape the future of social care.
Why is IMPACT important?
IMPACT supports the work of Brain Injury Matters NI (BIM) because it provides a platform to improve social care services for all those impacted by ABI through evidence-based research and policy influence. By engaging with IMPACT, BIM can help ensure that the specific needs of those it supports are recognised and addressed in social care reforms. This collaboration offers opportunities to shape policy, enhance service delivery, and access innovative approaches that improve rehabilitation and long-term support.
What are our hopes for the project?
Brain Injury Matters NI (BIM) hopes this project will enhance staff training and awareness, leading to more person and family-centred, empathetic care for all those impacted by acquired brain injury (ABI). By fostering co-production and collaboration, the project aims to create a cultural shift in social care, ensuring services are more inclusive, respectful, and responsive. BIM seeks to build long-term partnerships with health and social care trusts, embedding continuous improvement and real-world insights into training. Additionally, the project aspires to improve communication, empower those with ABI, and enhance staff morale, ultimately leading to better care experiences and sustainable improvements in service delivery.
Dr Jackie Gray, Founder of Carents®:
I created Carents® in 2020 to fill a gap in support for the growing numbers of adults who are caring for elderly relatives who struggle to live independently. My combined personal and professional experience suggested that traditional support services were ill-equipped to meet the care needs of older adults living with frailty and their family carers. Since then, our UK wide Carents® community has grown rapidly with members continuing to highlight multiple unmet needs which are having a significantly detrimental effect on their health and wellbeing.
We are excited to work with IMPACT to give these seldom-heard carents a voice which can shape future policies and strategic commissioning. Our highly engaged community of Carents feel invisible to the ‘system’ and overwhelmed by the challenge of balancing caregiving responsibilities with other aspects of their lives. We are determined to change this so that adult carers can access improved services, practical tools and resources which enable them to remain healthy, productive and engaged whilst fulfilling their caregiving roles. We believe the IMPACT project will play a crucial role in helping us achieve this vision.
Mackenzie Fong, Newcastle University, Street Paws, StreetVet, and Dogs Trust (Together Through Homelessness):
In the UK, very few temporary homelessness accommodation providers accept pets for reasons including perceived risks to safety, hygiene, and animal welfare. In our recent study involving several accommodation providers and residents across the UK, we found that the risks and costs of housing pets are minimal and are far outweighed by the benefits. With the appropriate measures in place, accommodation services can be pet-friendly and respect the needs and wellbeing of residents, staff and animals.
We are looking forward to working with IMPACT to enhance the visibility of this issue among accommodation providers, housing associations and policy makers. By promoting the support available to housing providers to implement pet-friendly policies we hope to ultimately improve homelessness accommodation provision for people with pets.
Newham Council
We are excited at the prospect of working with IMPACT on this improvement project. Newham is one of the most diverse places in the country, and has a strong commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, backed by our Corporate Plan and our Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
Sexuality and gender identity are both protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, and are both intrinsic to who a person is. If you look at the nine elements of wellbeing as set out in Section 1 of the Care Act, there is not a single one that does not have the potential to be profoundly impacted by sexuality and gender identity.
Ensuring our residents and staff feel confident and comfortable speaking about these things in the context of care and support, and ensuring that services in the borough adequately meet the care and support needs of our LGBTQ+ communities, are critical to ensure we promote the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ residents.
IMPACT are a trusted partner who undertake meaningful co-production and have a robust approach to evidence, where insights from lived experience, practitioner knowledge and academic research are all brought together. We are looking forward to working with IMPACT and our LGBTQ+ communities to co-produce an improved care and support offer for the borough.