Meet the Dragons

Promoting innovation in social care

Five groundbreaking social care initiatives came face to face with a panel of expert Dragons in the final of the Meet The Dragons held at 8 John Adam Street on 26 February 2008.
The event set out to explore fresh and imaginative ways of creating public services that address individual users' needs and aspirations in ways that are affordable, sustainable and fair. This will be done through showcasing leading edge innovation in social care and by extending the debate about future developments in social care with an influential public audience.

What we wanted to see at this event was:

  • innovation and creative solutions in social care celebrated and supported.
  • information shared on the transformation of social care with an influential audience.
  • public awareness raised about the continuing renegotiation of the contract between state and individual in respect of their care.

It marked the climax of a six month England-wide search for innovative social care solutions to meet the demand of our 21st-century lives. Brought to the RSA as a new project by the Social Care Leaders Learning Set and in partnership with Society Guardian, the initiative attracted 142 entries from across the country. Bidding was for  a share of an investment fund of £52,000 cash and over £100,000 worth of consultancy services, raised by the Learning Set from development agencies and private sponsors.

With government policy now giving people money to buy their own services, the purpose was to share these changes with Fellows and to showcase innovation in the social care market.  Dragons were David Behan, Director General Social Care, RSA Chief Executive Matthew Taylor, ?WhatIf! innovation guru and star of the BBC's Honey We're Killing the Kids Kris Murrin and Baroness Jill Pitkeathley, Founder of the carer movement.

Investing in innovation: the winners


DOSH, represented by Karen Boyce-Dawson and Simon Conway, was given £5, 000 in cash and 20 days consultancy by in Control to develop financial advocacy for people with learning disabilities. In Control, a partnership between families, individuals, services, local authorities, Government and many other organisations led by Fellow and Albert Medal winner Simon Duffy, have pioneered the use of individual budgets in the UK.

Village Agents'  Rosie Callinan, was given £10, 000 and support from a team of five innovators for one week from the ?WhatIf! Social Innovation Foundation, worth approximately £40,000. In an age of remote call-centre support services, it will provide face-to-face support for elderly people in rural communities by local people on a part-time basis.

Two separate Crossroads initiatives from the North East and East Cheshire got investment to develop their ideas - looking at recruiting personal assistants for carers through third party contracts and helping employers support carers at work respectively.

Crossroads North East received 20 days consultancy from in Control and £5000 cash, as well as five days consultancy from Learning Set member Lucianne Sawyer, a consultant who focuses on outcomes for care homes, home care and respite care. East Cheshire Crossroads received £10, 000 in cash, five ?WhatIf! innovation consultants for one week, marketing and PR products and services from Pavilion Publishing up to the value of £5,000, and two days' consultancy from public services IT experts Staffplan.

Presenting first class quality art for sale on the web and by exhibition, the Other Side Gallery in London were given a stunning £22,000 in cash from the Innovation fund and up to £10,000 consultancy support from Tribal Consulting. This was to pilot a career development scheme created by a self-help community of artists who find themselves vulnerable -  to help sell their work commercially and reduce social exclusion.

All four third sector bids will be featured as outstanding examples of innovation and will be invited to participate in the innovation network and April launch of Innovation Xchange.

Society Guardian is our media sponsor. Read coverage of the project by Ann James.

The event was driven jointly by the RSA and a group of social care leaders known as the Learning Set. The Learning Set facilitates leading edge discussion of current policy direction and its implementation among a membership known for its national leadership of the sector.

Read more about our sponsors

How the finalists were chosen

To get to the final our successful bidders had to make it through a tough selection process to a longlist of  sixteen, drawn up by expert Learning Set members, all of whom are leaders in the social care sector. These sixteen were invited to a shortlisting day at the RSA on 13 February 2008 where they were coached by behavioural change company Making Change Work and presented their pitches to a panel of Learning Set judges.

The RSA has offered a year's free Fellowship to the five finalists and the eleven other longlisted bids: Richard O'Driscoll, Cambridgeshire PCT; Derek Wilson and Catriona Wilson, Inclusive Solutions UK; Maxine Wrigley and Benni-Jo Tyler, National Voice; Douglas Baker and Craig Taylor, Nature's Playground; Paul Hodgkin, Patient Opinion; Chris Gee and Nathan Smith, Plan My Care; Maurice Collins and Ellis Elias, Prime Thinkers; Rosemary Hurtley and Pat Duff, RCC Ltd; Peter Beresford and Jennifer Taylor, Shaping Our Lives; Tina Duplock and Steve Jones, Somerset County Council; and Chris Steele, Peter Ball and Alan Coe, Stoke on Trent City Council.

See the Meet the Dragons longlist