Registrations for the 2025 Care Innovation Challenge are now in full swing and the excitement is building for the Innovation Weekender in June when our budding innovators and entrepreneurs will develop their ideas and prototypes and build their business plans with guidance and mentoring from our industry experts and experts by lived experience. At the end of the two day ideation session they will present their ideas to the challenge judges before five teams and individuals are selected to take part in the final at the Birmingham Care Show in October. 

But before that of course we’re thrilled to be heading to the London Care Show on Wednesday 30th April and Thursday 1st May. We’ll be talking to delegates and spreading the word about this exciting opportunity to really make an impact in the future of the social care sector. 

We’re super excited that this year the Show has added a new theatre –the Catering, Hydration and Nutrition Theatre. In amongst the live cookery demonstrations and masterclasses on budgeting and meal planning, we’re so pleased that last year’s Challenge winners, Ellyfe will present the hydration testing device that won them the coveted accolade on their third time entering the Challenge. Ellyfe’s founders Keerthi Busanaboyina and Hemanth Kumar Talupula will talk through and demonstrate their solution which is a wearable band designed for older adults that monitors hydration levels continuously. The device also creates alerts for caregivers for an app if there are any abnormal hydration levels.  They have been busy perfecting their prototype and carrying out testing and gathering evidence in a range of care settings so will have plenty to share about how hydration tracking can support staff and improve care for the residents.  

Make sure you add Ellyfe’s session on 1st May from 14.50pm to 15.20pm to your show schedule and then head on over to Stand G22 to come and speak to the Care Innovation Challenge team who can talk you through the opportunity and even complete a registration form with you there and then! 

We’re looking for applications from people aged 18 or over who are already working within the care sector or moving into the sector, university graduates and people who simply want to make a difference.  The Challenge is a unique opportunity to network with supportive experts, influencers and leaders in social care as well as successful entrepreneurs. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what one of last year’s finalists said about their experience of the Care Innovation Challenge: 

“It was great to chat with the mentors who came from a variety of backgrounds. Some specialised in technology, some in product and market research. They gave me a lot of insight and experience. One of the mentors has a son with epilepsy so is well aware of the panic that you have at that moment. We talked through some of the issues she’s had with videoing seizures because that’s really difficult but valuable to neurologists to know and see what’s happening and to understand how it’s presenting” Anna O’Gara, Founder, Carpe Care 

Please visit https://careinnovationhub.org.uk/challenge/ to register now and we could be seeing you in the summer for a weekend of exciting innovation!