Solva Care is delighted to be one of the organisations chosen to participate in the second phase of Innovate to Save; Welsh Government’s £5M research and development fund to help support public and third sector organisations to deliver services in Wales differently. Their programme is supported by Y Lab (a partnership of Nesta – the global innovation foundation – and Cardiff University) and the Wales Council for Voluntary Action.

Led by Solva Care’s Project Manager Lesley Robertson-Steel, the project will investigate how Direct Payments can be organised in a way to provide people with greater choice, more personally-appropriate care and support to maintain and improve their wellbeing. The project will also investigate how Solva Care, a community-led charity, can support the creation of a Care Cooperative to achieve this aim.

Solva Care will work closely on the project with project partners Hywel Dda University Health Board, Pembrokeshire County Council, Rural Health and Care Wales, and Pembrokeshire Association of Voluntary Services (PAVS).

Solva Care’s chair Mollie Roach said, “We are very excited to have been selected for this prestigious project, and look forward to working with our partners to find new ways of empowering older people in Pembrokeshire to take positive action to secure their health and wellbeing”.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Social Services Tessa Hodgson said, “We are delighted to be able to partner Solva Care on this ground-breaking project. The potential opportunities for the wellbeing of the people of Pembrokeshire – given the constraints on the finances of local authorities – are really exciting and we look forward to working together”.

Solva Care is a community-led charity focusing on care, support and wellbeing. It was set up in 2015, and made permanent following a successful pilot phase. Direct payments are payments made by local authorities to people wanting to organise, commission and pay for their own personal care.

The aims of Solva Care are to maintain and improve health and wellbeing by:
 enabling residents to stay in their own homes and remain part of the community;
 offering a way to counteract loneliness, isolation and social disadvantage; and
 providing extra support for those who are caring for relatives.
 Running activities to connect the community and enhance well-being.

For further information about Innovate to Save, please contact Solva Care’s Project Manager Lesley Robertson-Steel on 07722 091664 or lesleyrs.solvacare@gmail.com
Solva Care in action
hall dancing