University lends business expertise to Children’s Hospice to transform sector
The University of Huddersfield’s award-winning Business School is lending its expertise to Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice as part of a three-year partnership.
The aim is for academics at Huddersfield Business School to help bring about organisational transformation at the Children’s Hospice which is facing significant challenges around funding amid an increasing demand for support.
Huddersfield-based Forget Me Not has been delivering care and support to children with life-shortening conditions and their families for more than ten years. Its long-term sustainability is vital to ensure the hospice can continue to provide outstanding specialist care, now and in the future, to the children and families it supports, including families living with the loss of their child.
Professor Shona Bettany, of Huddersfield Business School, within the University’s School of Business, Education and Law, is leading the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) which is backed by £240,000 of Innovate UK funding.
Forget Me Not Children's Hospice at Russell HouseThe University and Forget Me Not are currently seeking a Programme Manager to lead delivery of the project and act as a key link between the two organisations.
The Professor of Marketing described how the KTP will seek a transformative strategic re-visioning to consolidate existing operations and develop and embed innovative new capabilities.
The project will see the development and implementation of an innovative framework, the Forget Me Not Blueprint, that will drive the transformation of the charity into a learning organisation and pioneering knowledge leader in the children’s hospice sector.
Professor Bettany commented: “Hospices face significant and increasingly complex challenges: lack of government funding, an increasingly competitive funding environment, increasing demand for services, and complexity of service-user needs. This exciting project will accelerate the required transformative strategic re-visioning to consolidate existing operations and develop and embed innovative new capabilities with Forget Me Not."
Gareth Pierce
CEO at Forget Me Not
“Innovation has always been central to everything we do. This amazing partnership with the University of Huddersfield will enable us to take the steps we need to continue to innovate, grow and develop, underpinned by robust research and expert project management. And by doing so, protect our future so we can continue to be here for children and families for many, many years to come.”
KTPs are government-funded programmes aimed at helping UK businesses improve competitiveness, production and performance, part-funded through Innovate UK. The programme involves a collaboration between an organisation, nominated academic mentors from the University and a recent graduate.
Innovate UK is the country’s national innovation agency, which supports business-led innovation in all sectors and technologies, helping businesses grow through the development and commercialisation of new products, processes, and services.
The deadline to apply for the KTP associate role is 25 September. More details can be found here.