Health Work and Well-being Challenge Fund

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Voluntary Sector North West
St. Thomas Centre

Ardwick Green North
Manchester
M12 6FZ
Tel: 0161 276 9300
Fax: 0161 276 9301
Email: info@vsnw.org.uk

17 November 2009

Small businesses and local partnerships across Britain can bid for a share of millions of pounds over the next two years to fund innovative projects to improve the health and welfare of their workers.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister Lord McKenzie is inviting small and medium sized businesses and local partnerships to bid for a share of the Health Work and Well-being Challenge Fund from today.

Lord McKenzie said:

“We are working with employers to provide the necessary support to help workers remain happy and healthy in their job. This fund will improve conditions in the workplace and will help to prevent workers taking time off sick.

“We are looking for innovative and exciting ideas to improve the health and welfare of employees in the workplace. These can include projects to reduce stress, improve a work life balance or provide healthy activities.”

The DWP’s Health Work and Well-being Challenge Fund is worth £4m and will be available from now until March 2011.

We are looking for projects that promote health and welfare at work, such as:

Reducing stress and improving other mental health conditions
Providing healthy activities
Ensuring work life balance
Supportive management

There will be two rounds of funding and successful projects can be awarded between £1,000 and £50,000 a year. Local Assessment Panels will decide which projects will receive funding, based on criteria aimed at promoting occupational health and welfare at work.

Further details, including project criteria and guidance for entries, are available on the Government's Working for Health website

Notes to editors:

The DWP’s Health Work and Well-being Challenge Fund was first announced in “Improving health and work: changing lives”, the Government’s response to Dame Carol Black’s review of the health of Britain’s working age population, published on 25 November 2008.
Small and medium sized businesses with between 1 and 249 employees and local partnerships can apply to the fund. Businesses must be based and trading in Great Britain and must have been established for at least two years.
The minimum award is £1,000 a year and the maximum is £50,000 a year.
No business can receive more than one award in any year – if they receive an award as a single business, they cannot receive an award as a member of a local partnership in the same year. Similarly no member of a local partnership can receive more than one award in any year.
See the full guidance and Expression of Interest form at http://www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/challengefund

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