In partnership with the UCL Institute of Health Equity, Legal & General has recently announced the launch of a £3m ‘Health Equity’ Fund, designed to support projects run by organisations (e.g., charities, social enterprises, community groups) across the UK that address health inequalities.
About the Legal & General ‘Health Equity’ Fund:
- £3 million fund offering grants of up to £75,000 to place-based projects that address the social determinants of health: non-medical social and economic factors, such as housing, education, infrastructure, or quality of work. These factors create and shape the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age, but they are not always equitable.
- The fund pilot initially launched and opened to receive expressions of interest in early June with a trailblazer £1mn available to projects based in the North East of England.
- The opportunity is now open to receiving interest from organisations with projects or ideas for projects to be delivered in regions and communities UK-wide.
- Example projects that may be supported include funding for inner-city schools in areas of deprivation to community programmes which address the social determinants behind pressures on A&E services, or partnerships raising awareness of the contribution the natural environment makes to health and wellbeing.
Why is Legal & General launching this fund?
Since 2021, Legal & General and the Institute of Health Equity have worked together to explore the role of business in reducing health inequalities in the UK. Research from this partnership has shown that:
- tackling the root causes of health and social inequalities – the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age – can prevent or improve poor health outcomes and increase healthy life expectancy, and
- business and investor involvement in addressing health and social inequalities can drive positive outcomes for people and communities and generate commercial and economic benefits (such as increased productivity) at local, regional, and national levels.[1]
[1] The Business of Health Equity: The Marmot Review for Industry (Marmot M, Alexander M, Allen J, Munro A, Institute of Health Equity (2022))
The fund is the latest outcome of Legal & General’s long history of using its role as a business and investor to positively influence health outcomes, recognising that a stable economy and healthy society go hand in hand and businesses and investors can actively help to support both.
Who can apply?
This fund will offer grants to support organisations (e.g., charities, social enterprises, community groups) to deliver place-based initiatives across the UK which directly address the social determinants of health.
The fund will provide grant funding of up to £75,000 per project. We are particularly interested in proposals that can demonstrate:
- Local impact on reducing health inequality, addressing under-served communities
- Potential to scale up and be replicated nationally
- Potential to become financially sustainable in the medium term
- Particularly innovative approaches
- Initiatives which can demonstrate local support and key stakeholder engagement (including support from Local and / or Combined Authorities)
To apply for funding create an account with Legal and General: Login | The Health Equity Network
