Workwell Trust

Working Well Trust, established in 1992 as a UK-registered charity, empowers individuals facing mental health challenges or neurodiversity to overcome employment barriers and achieve meaningful work, fostering workplace inclusion and societal participation. Led by CEO Helen Forster and governed by a dedicated board, it upholds core values of dignity, collaboration, innovation, and the transformative role of employment in wellbeing. Its distinctive holistic, person-centred approach—embodied in a "no wrong door" policy—evolves from vocational training and social enterprises to integrated services like Individual Placement and Support (IPS), blending health, employment coaching, job brokerage, and in-work retention.

The Trust supports working-age adults with mild to severe mental health issues or neurodiversity across diverse backgrounds, delivering outcomes-focused programs such as one-to-one coaching, peer support, and bespoke career advice. It partners with health providers, local authorities, and organizations like Shaw Trust on initiatives like the WorkWell pilot, aiding over 2,000 participants with disabilities or long-term conditions to enter or sustain employment. Funding underpins direct service delivery, including vocational projects and job retention, primarily in London boroughs (Tower Hamlets, Enfield, Newham, Barking & Dagenham) with some national/regional reach.

Eligible partners are UK-registered charities, Integrated Care Boards, local authorities, or large specialist providers invited via government tenders; small groups or unsolicited applications are not accepted. Grants, restricted to commissioned activities like staffing and project delivery, follow unit-cost models (e.g., £800+ per participant) yielding £800,000+ awards based on scale, with no income caps, rolling deadlines, or core/capital funding. Deadlines align with government cycles, such as January 2024 for WorkWell.

Distinctively, it avoids discretionary grants, prioritizing innovative pilots and co-production with users over broad philanthropy, differentiating through proven cross-sector expertise in mental health-employment integration and policy-influencing scale-ups.