Exploration and experiment – researching, trying out, thinking, finding new ideas or new ways to address disadvantage.

Whilst in our other programmes we’re happy to support applicants who are looking to sustain activities that they already know work, under Exploration we want to support genuinely new thinking and approaches.

Real innovation takes time, involves risks and has uncertain results. We encourage experiment, and look for ways to learn what works and what does not. We are interested in applicants seeking to test whether a good idea will work in reality, and those wanting to evaluate the impact of a new approach. Plans to inform others – locally, regionally and, where appropriate, nationally – about what you will learn from your project will be essential to a successful application.

We understand that genuinely new ideas are few and far between, and that innovation can spring from experiences in other parts of the UK, or internationally. Whilst we’re unlikely to support the roll out of a model that has simply been imported from elsewhere, we realise that introducing a successful idea into a new area is also an experiment, and should be treated as such.

Sometimes it may be that more understanding is needed about a problem in order to find better solutions to it. Any applications for formal research must have practical benefits for disadvantaged people in our area. We will not, however, normally contribute to the indirect costs of university-based work. In rare cases we may consider contributing to some institutional overheads where this is essential to the work going ahead.