LEAP Community Sandpit

About the Sandpit

As part of our Digital Health Community Innovators scheme, we’ll be hosting an in-person Community Sandpit event in Bristol this November.

This interactive session will bring together our successful Community Innovators, who will present the challenges they’re exploring.

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in in-depth discussions around these challenges, with the aim of forming diverse project teams that combine lived experience, technical expertise, and community insight.

Who should attend?

Participants in the Sandpit may come from a range of backgrounds, including:

• Academia
• Industry
• NHS or healthcare
• Social care
• Charities
• Community organisations

We’re looking for people with an interest in contributing to challenge-led, lived experience–driven research. Attendees will either have some connection to or interest in one or more of the challenge themes or will bring skills and expertise that could support any of the themes.

Why attend?

• Join a unique opportunity to collaborate on research shaped by people with direct lived experience and deep community insight. You’ll support Digital Health Community Innovators in leading projects that matter to their communities.
• Meet others who are passionate about community-led research, including experts from academia, industry, health and social care, charities, and grassroots organisations.
• Teams formed at the Sandpit will be eligible to apply for up to £10,000 in seedcorn funding to explore their challenge.

Challenge themes

Ten successful Digital Community Health Innovators will be presenting their challenges during the sandpit. The themes or health areas related to their challenges are:

• Intelligent, predictive virtual healthcare to better manage complex conditions and reduce hospital admissions.
• Accessible virtual exercise platform tailored for people with long-term health conditions.
• Digital tools and wearables to support independence in early-stage dementia.
• Personalised app for tracking chronic conditions and providing virtual healthcare assistance.
• Using digital platforms to map social assets and personal networks, empowering people to use creativity and social connection to support wellbeing.
• Wearable or app-based navigation aids for people with dual sensory loss.
• Empowering Autistic people with digital tools for social inclusion and skill-building and augmentative communication technologies for non-verbal or speech-delayed individuals.
• Digital health solutions to support and empower adults with learning disabilities in supported or residential care settings.
• Innovations addressing menstrual and hormonal health, including the experiences of neurodivergent menstruators, within the research ecosystem.

Key details

Friday 14 November
10:30 – 14:30
In-person (Trinity Centre, Trinity Road, St Jude’s, Bristol, BS2 0NW)

• Attendance will be by application only, to ensure a balanced mix of participants. Places are limited and cannot be guaranteed.
• Please submit your application by Tuesday 11 November 2025. You will receive a confirmation email from TicketTailor if your place is secured.

Seedcorn funding

During the Community Sandpit, each Community Innovator will be looking to form a team to investigate their challenge further. These teams will be able to apply for seedcorn funding of £10,000.

The funding application will need to be made by an academic from one the Hub’s partner universities (Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, Exeter or UWE).
Additional team members can be from other universities, industry, NHS or healthcare, social care, charities, community organisations.

Use of the funding will need to be in line with the eligibility requirements of the Hub’s funder (the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council).

The funding is intended as a small amount of resource to support the initial exploration into the challenge. Examples of what it might be used for include:

• Materials and supplies for prototyping, testing, or co-design activities
• Travel expenses for team members to attend meetings or events
• Services (e.g. facilitation, translation) to support project delivery
• Small equipment or software needed to explore a technical idea
• Printing and production of outreach or engagement materials
• Catering for community events or workshops

Seedcorn funding applications will only be accepted from teams applying with a LEAP Digital Health Community Innovator.

Timeline

Contacts

If you have any questions about the sandpit, please contact Rachel Prior or Emma Brown at leap-dh-hub@bristol.ac.uk.

Please send any questions about the call to leap-dh-hub@bristol.ac.uk and we will aim to answer them as soon as possible and add to the FAQ list.