Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust Charitable Funds

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust Charitable Funds, an NHS-linked charity registered in 1997 and consolidated from local funds in 2017, exists to enhance health, wellbeing, and experiences for patients, service users, families, and staff served by the Trust across Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Its mission emphasizes "added value" beyond core NHS funding, fostering outstanding care through environmental improvements, therapeutic spaces like sensory gardens, wellbeing infrastructure, and innovative projects—never substituting statutory services. Guided by NHS governance as a corporate trustee, it prioritizes incremental enhancements in mental health, learning disabilities, community hospitals, children's services, dental, sexual health, and physical care, exemplified by the Dr Carl Ellson Clinical Innovation Fund (CECIF) supporting pilot innovations for better patient outcomes.

It funds small-scale projects, capital improvements, equipment, and therapeutic initiatives directly benefiting Trust facilities and users in these counties, with a focus on staff-led or closely partnered efforts rather than broad external charities. Eligible applicants are limited—primarily NHS affiliates or those via targeted schemes like CECIF—with no unsolicited applications accepted generally; no income thresholds apply, but projects must demonstrate clear, additional impact.

Grants typically range from £250 to £10,000 (CECIF: £250–£1,000), awarded via online forms during open rounds, such as CECIF 2025 (7 October–18 November 2025). It excludes core service costs, salaries, or statutory NHS provision. Distinctively, as a hyper-local NHS charity, it uniquely empowers front-line innovations within its remit, differentiating it from national funders by insisting on geographic ring-fencing and non-displacement of public funds.