Seasons Greetings
As 2025 draws to a close, we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who’s been part of the Care City journey this year.
Whether you’ve worked alongside us, challenged our thinking, shared your experience or helped turn ideas into action, we couldn’t have done this without you.
It’s been a year shaped by national reform, financial pressure and big questions about the future of health and care. Against that backdrop, we’ve stayed focused on what matters most: designing and testing what works, supporting partners through change, and building the evidence and capability needed to deliver real impact at scale.
Along the way, we’ve grown new skills across design, impact and financial modelling; brought people together to share learning; and continued working side-by-side with communities to shape more relational, preventative approaches to care. We’ve shared that learning nationally too, co-producing our second Digital Care Summit, presenting new thinking on the adult social care “front door” at Social Care Futures, and welcoming the Casey Commission to spend time with us and our partners.
Looking back, here are some of the moments we’re most proud of.
Building capability across communities, care and systems
- We’ve facilitated Connect, a neighbourhood innovation partnership in Barking and Dagenham that is proving how residents, VCFSE and professionals can work together to build trust, independence and prevention, saving £9 for every £1 invested.
- We’ve worked with the London Borough of Redbridge, providers and residents to support 300+ people to access care technology across reablement, home care and care homes.
- We have embedded Nursing Associates and AHP assistants directly into social care settings, bringing new skills and a more proactive and preventative approach to care.
- Saint Francis Hospice has an amazing vision for the future of hospice care. We’ve worked closely with them to make this a reality, co-creating a digital strategy, roadmap and systems that strengthen care for staff, families and volunteers.
Proving what works for neighbourhood health
- Evidenced significant benefits from two national care technology evaluations. People and families told us they feel safer, more independent and less lonely. Evidence showed ROI of up to 153% through cost reduction and avoidance.
- Delivered the first independent evaluation of the Veteran Friendly Framework, showing armed forces veterans felt more connected, less isolated and better understood. The programme’s success has led to two further years of funding.
- Explored how a more human, relational adult social care front door could reduce demand and costs, with early modelling showing the potential for significant financial savings through earlier support.
- Evaluated neighbourhood-based, multidisciplinary care across PCNs and schools, supporting adults, children with asthma and SEND pupils.
- Evaluated a story-based, co-designed approach to polypharmacy. Across 14 sessions with 126 older adults, people reported feeling more confident in discussing their medicines.
Building the team and culture behind the work
We strengthened our foundations by welcoming Helen England as Chair of our Board, Mikey Roche as Transformation Director, Anjali Moorthy as Service Design Lead and Rania Ahmed as Delivery Manager. We also tested a new, values-led recruitment approach, inviting people to shape roles around the work, a leap of faith that paid off.
Looking ahead to 2026
In 2026, we’ll build on what we’ve learned locally and work with more places to shape neighbourhood health, rethink the front door to care and support earlier, more preventative approaches.
Our plans include:
- Continuing to help places develop their approach to neighbourhood health with communities, from the ground up.
- Supporting 2000 people to benefit from innovative remote monitoring technologies in social care across care homes, home care and a hospice.
- Continuing to help places understand the potential for care technology to help people live the lives they want
- Addressing the shortage of appropriate accommodation by partnering to develop community-led housing models that combine lived experience with specialist operational expertise.
- Continuing regeneration-focused work, supporting residents to co-design physical-health innovations.
- Exploring how retrofit can be scaled to support people whose health is affected by poor housing.
None of this would have been possible without our incredible partners including Ageable, Alcove, BD Collective, BD Giving, Community Resources, Connected Places Catapult, Care Providers Voice, DatNexa, Feebris, Informetis, Miicare, PUBLIC, Rainmaking, Rayne Foundation, Rethink Partners, Scottish Care, Social Care Futures, Thames Freeport, Whzan, WM5G, 4OC, our Community Board and our communities. Thank you.
Wishing you a happy festive holiday season.
