A pioneering proposal to set up a county-wide social support group for children who stammer, and their families, has scooped funding from a Dorset NHS trust.

The Stammering Support Initiative has won Dorset HealthCare’s annual staff innovation competition, Dragons’ Den, while a further nine other projects have also been awarded cash support – bringing the overall total to more than £15,100 – to help improve patient care.

Dragons’ Den invites staff from across all of the Trust’s community and mental health services to come up with fresh ideas to benefit patients and/or carers. People are asked to provide evidence of likely benefits and show how such projects could be sustained over a long period.

A record 3,100 staff and members of the public voted for their favourite proposals this year, with the people behind the top five then pitching to a panel of ‘dragons’ – as on the BBC-TV show – to secure an investment and bring their ideas to fruition.

The Stammering Support Initiative was the brainchild of speech and language therapists Carla Mitchell and Jenny Beston.

Stammering affects eight per cent of children, impacting their confidence, wellbeing and relationships, yet there are no specialist support groups in Dorset.

The pair were awarded £2,600 to establish a community social group to help build confidence, reduce anxiety and make lasting social connections for children who stammer and their families.

And the other four proposals which made the final also scooped cash investment.

These included:
Sensory Toolkit Library (£1,500)
Emergency Care Physiotherapy Works (£3,231)
Emotional Wellbeing Toolkits (£750)
LEAD by Example: Learning Essentials about Learning Disabilities (£600) .

And the good news didn’t stop there. The ‘dragons’ were so impressed with the calibre of entries this year that the other five ideas which went to the public vote were also given start-up funding.

This will total just under £6,500, and be used to support projects including art activities for dementia patients, yoga clinics, after-care for leg ulcer patients, events for people with disabilities and their carers, and connecting relatives of people with learning disabilities.