This programme is founded on the premise that care can be foundational to how we design services, shape communities, and respond to societal challenges. Whether in housing, justice, government, or any other field, an ethos of care can humanise systems, build resilience and connection, and prevent harm before it occurs. We have seen how an ethos of care can be transformative. The pandemic revealed the extraordinary potential of communities to come together through avenues such as mutual aid groups. Research and practice from around the world demonstrates that when a caring approach is placed at the centre of systems, services, and communities, many of society’s most pressing problems can be reduced or even prevented. If we are a society that really cares, we need to orientate the way we deliver services and support and talk about people in a way that centres their needs and be caring in our ethos.

Building a society that cares is a three-year programme that launched in 2025. It seeks to find ways in which care can be harnessed to humanise services, build resilience and connection to communities, and reimagine how we prevent and address our biggest societal challenges.

The programme is currently in its first year. We awarded our first cohort of Fellows in July 2026 and are now looking for a second cohort of around 10 Fellows who will learn from international practice to continue exploring how a caring response can be placed at the heart of systems, services, and communities in the UK.

Care is not only what happens in social care settings, in hospitals, or within families. It is an ethos – a way of doing things. We see care as the difference between an individual approach and a collective one, one that reimagines systems that goes beyond merely processing people to one that sees them.

There is a need to continue exploring more caring, less punitive and processed focused approaches that consider:

• How we can make care policies more effective
• To what extent are our care systems caring; and how we can ground such services in relationships rather than processes
• The place of care in areas beyond the formal care system; how we can ensure care is foundational to our work in sectors such as community, justice, housing, government or education.

We are seeking project proposals that aim to reimagine a care-centred future for the UK – one that puts care at the heart of our response to addressing and preventing different societal issues, and one that values care as the foundation for building stronger and more connected communities.

This programme takes a deliberately broad approach because we believe a care-based approach can – and should – be present across all sectors and communities. We consider care in its broadest sense including systems, services, and policies that can better provide for the needs of society and its citizens, as well as approaches that can better support and enable individuals and communities to look after each other.

Projects can come from any sector or community, but should reflect one or more of the following approaches:

• Reimagine systems and services through a caring framework. Exploring how existing systems can adopt a more caring and less punitive ethos to tackle the root causes of societal challenges, in a way that is sustainable for future generations. This might include policy reform, redesigning how services are delivered, or embedding relational approaches into organisations that have moved away from them.
• Building caring communities. This may include grassroots projects that create and strengthen networks of care, such as mutual aid groups, peer-support networks, or community-led approaches to help communities look after each other.
• Transforming care systems themselves. Making care more people-centred, relational and holistic, as well as addressing the conditions that are preventing those in caring roles from caring well.
• Supporting those who care. Initiatives that better support unpaid carers, or give those in formal caring roles the resources, autonomy, and recognition they need to sustain their work.
• Shifting narratives and culture. This could include projects that use the arts to change how care is valued and understood in public life.

Your application would ideally seek to identify the root causes of some of society’s greatest challenges and explore how a more caring and compassionate approach can be taken to address and prevent them. A proposal focused on social care services will not be automatically considered in this programme. The approach being caring, rather than the sector delivering the care, is our priority.

We are less likely to support projects that:

• are driven by commercial innovation or objectives without a strong care ethos or public benefit rationale
• lack a clearly defined challenge or community focus
• do not engage with broader questions about how care can be foundational across society
• function only as isolated case studies without potential for broader relevance or change

When developing your application, we encourage you to:

• Start with a clearly defined challenge, question or opportunity – ideally one you are already working on or close to
• Explain how a more caring approach could help to address it, and what questions you would want to explore through your overseas learning from projects or programmes you may have identified
• Show the potential for your learning to contribute to change in the UK, whether in your own practice, organisation, community or beyond

We welcome applications from anyone who are based in a range of sectors – both those working in formal caring roles and those who are not normally associated with care but who want to bring a caring lens to their work.

We are particularly interested to hear from:

• Unpaid carers
• People working in sectors not typically associated with care, e.g. justice, education, housing, government
• People from, or working with, minority, ethnic, disabled, and other marginalised communities, where the need for more caring systems and services is often most acute
• Those working within social care, children’s services, youth services, health and are looking to reconnect with the ethos of care to put it back at the heart of their work

We recognise that those with caring responsibilities or are self-employed may face particular barriers to applying for a Fellowship. Therefore we are piloting in two programmes, Building a society that cares and Making space for the arts, how we can provide additional support. If you are shortlisted for an interview, we’ll ask you to provide us with more information.

These are the projects supported under this programme. Exploring a similar issue will not count against your application, but we encourage you to consider your unique perspective and approach.

2026

Katie Brown

Disrupting Digitally Driven Misogyny and Preventing VAWG Through Youth Led Co-Designed Local Action

Beth French

Grieving together: learning from community approaches to bereavement support across the world

Laura Griffiths

Building a Caring Society through Housing Justice for people seeking sanctuary

Risteárd McDonald

Exploring Nordic Approaches to Prison Chaplaincy and Faith Services

Jessica Mellor-Clark

Companies That Care: Business as a Force for Civic Resilience

Catherine Murnin

How supporting dementia carers can impact rural community outcomes

Jay Perkins

Exploring UK applications of community-led mental health and wellbeing solutions in the Caribbean

Louis Peters

Building a Caring Education System: Valuing Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing in UK Schools

Oli Smithson

Dementia Care in the Countryside: Combining Community Strengths with Technological Innovation