HELP US, HELP YOU: IMPROVING CANCER OUTCOMES

Heart of Bucks is delighted to be working in partnership with Buckinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (BCCG) and Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust to launch this new health initiative. This fund will support constituted not-for-profit groups to develop and deliver innovative and creative solutions to improve cancer outcomes, particularly for groups that traditionally have poorer health outcomes. Projects are not expected or required to be the finished article. Creativity and innovation is encouraged and the funders are keen that projects should provide a learning experience, leading to a better understanding about the way in which the expertise of local groups can achieve deeper reach into underrepresented communities. Longer term, our aim is that the learning from this project can be applied across many other areas of the CCG’s work to improve health outcomes for all.

Communities:

The communities we particularly wish to reach are:

• Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities

• Homeless people

• Gypsy, Romany, Traveller communities

• Refugees and Asylum Seekers

• People with learning disabilities

• People with long-term mental illness

• Projects should focus on the ‘high-risk’ groups within these communities, particularly older people, women, and those with underlying health conditions.

Projects

The focus of the projects submitted for consideration should be:

• To raise awareness of cancer symptoms.
• To promote earlier presentation of patients to GPs surgeries with concerns about possible symptoms.
• To increase the number of presentations of patients from these areas for NHS cancer screening (specifically breast, cervical and bowel cancer screening programs).

Creativity and innovation is encouraged, and the funders are keen to learn how the expertise of local groups can achieve deeper reach into underrepresented communities.

What we can fund:

• Capital expenditure, such as equipment and building modifications
• costs associated with new, or the enhancement of existing, initiatives
• Core costs, including staff salaries

What we can’t fund:

• Activities exclusively promoting a particular religious or political belief
• Overseas travel
• Projects which are already completed
• Individuals
• Statutory bodies (excluding parish/town councils)
• Profit-making organisations
• Organisations whose principal concern is animal welfare
• Any activity which is a statutory responsibility of a public body

Priority will be given to organisations who incorporate collaborative working with NHS clinical staff in their application, ideally accessing support/advice from clinical experts (see: “Other support available” below).

Examples:

Projects might include health educational initiatives, outreach activity, communication and breaking down language/cultural barriers, or any other additional service/support that might improve cancer outcomes for these communities in the defined areas. As noted above, this fund encourages innovation, so these examples are not intended to be prescriptive

Fund Criteria:

Area

The target areas for this project are:

Central Aylesbury, High Wycombe, and Chesham. Projects must focus on at least one of these areas, or a specific smaller area within these locations but it is not a requirement to cover all three areas. We hope to see a range of project sizes including those focused on particularly disadvantaged areas within these towns.

Support Available:

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust and/or their partner organisations are available to provide support to groups considering applying to this fund. They can offer feedback and guidance on project ideas and plans, as well as how to access relevant resource materials and consider appropriate evaluation methods. We strongly encourage applicants to utilise this unique opportunity before submitting an application to the fund, as we believe prior consultation with the appropriate clinical teams will significantly improve the quality of applications put forward, thus increasing your chances of success