Yesterday, the energy in Bradford was electric as we gathered for the finalists’ celebration and winners’ event, marking the culmination of the Mayor’s big ideas challenge.
This £1 million challenge, funded by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, was launched with a vital mission: tackling the health inequalities that create unfair differences in health outcomes across diverse communities in West Yorkshire.
The day was not just a ceremony, but a testament to what happens when we address the wider social and structural issues that prevent people from living healthier, longer lives.
The afternoon kicked off with a warm welcome from Nassin Watson and Kathy Nothstine of Challenge Works, followed by a captivating fireside chat with Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire. The Mayor shared her vision for a fairer future, emphasising how local innovation is the key to bridging health inequalities in Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield.
A highlight of the day was the awards ceremony, where Mayor Tracy Brabin took to the stage to announce the three winners who will each be awarded £100,000 to commercialise and scale their solution, leading the way in tackling health inequalities across the region.
Meet our winners
While all 19 finalist teams showcased groundbreaking solutions, three organisations were selected as winners for their exceptional impact, innovation, and commitment to inclusion: Mind Body Goals Ltd, Harmonai Hub Limited, and Asclepius MedTech Limited.
Mind Body Goals Ltd (Luma³ Editions)
Simple, light-guided breathwork tools embedded across the NHS empower West Yorkshire patients to self-manage anxiety and pain, particularly in deprived communities where text-heavy leaflets and complex apps fail those with low literacy or digital access. By stripping away barriers with no apps, no words, and no logins, Luma³ uses intuitive light to provide immediate anxiety relief at the hospital bedside, making the best mental wellbeing tools accessible to everyone and free at the point of need. This equips patients with lifelong regulation skills to create a resilience "Halo Effect," aiming to make preventative mental health a normalised part of everyday healthcare and reduce inequalities across West Yorkshire.
Harmonai Hub Limited (Harmonai)
Harmonai Hub provides personalised, preventative AI support for carers to tackle stress, isolation, and burnout in West Yorkshire, where 400,000 unpaid and paid carers face a systemic gap in flexible wellbeing support that is often crisis-led or difficult to access. By shifting support from crisis-led to preventative, the platform offers immediate, minute-scale interactions combining a real-time AI companion with expert-led resources to deliver non-judgemental emotional support without appointments, referrals, or waiting lists. The long-term vision is to build a preventative wellbeing infrastructure to reduce mental health inequalities, enabling carers to sustain their roles without burnout while improving long-term outcomes and reducing avoidable pressure on acute NHS and social care services.
Asclepius MedTech Limited (Surgfit™)
Surgfit™ is a remote monitoring system that assesses fitness for surgery from the comfort of home to improve patient recovery and outcomes, tackling the gap where one third of patients miss vital risk assessments, with those from minority ethnic groups and the poorest communities 50% more likely to miss these appointments. Replacing time-consuming hospital visits with a disposable wearable sensor worn at home for seven days, this breakthrough captures superior clinical data while reducing patient time to just 30 minutes and providing a more inclusive, cost-effective way to prepare every patient safely for surgery. The ambition is to make remote monitoring the regional standard to reduce post-surgical complications and hospital readmissions, saving the NHS millions and empowering every patient to prepare for surgery in a familiar, accessible environment regardless of their background or where they live.
The road ahead
Another highlight of the event was an insightful panel talk involving four of the judges of the Mayor’s big ideas challenge, including Amy Lochtie (West Yorkshire Innovation Hub), Chris Herbert (Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust), Lisa-Dionne Morris (University of Leeds) and Sarah Bowes (West Yorkshire Combined Authority). The discussion centered on the road ahead, with each judge sharing the one systemic rule or barriers they would change to drastically reduce health inequalities in West Yorkshire.
The innovators’ journey
The event concluded with an inspiring innovators’ journey, where all attendees could network and meet the 19 finalists teams, as well as test some of their solutions. Attendees explored the wide array of solutions grouped into four impact areas:
- Community Access: Solutions such as DPP Support (Antidote Medical Ltd) and GP Pathways (Health Innovation Ventures Ltd) focused on making services more equitable.
- Specialist Care: Innovators including Humant Group Limited and JGME Consulting UK Ltd demonstrated how 3D scanning and AI can tailor care for vulnerable groups.
- Mental Health, Resilience, and Recovery: Teams such as Body Image Coach CIC and Safe Space Labs showcased tools for young people and neurodiverse children.
- Inclusion and Education: Finalists including Confidence with SJ Ltd and Kids Speech Labs highlighted the importance of inclusion and scaling critical services such as speech therapy.
The Mayor's big ideas challenge has proven that West Yorkshire is a hub of creativity and innovation. While the challenge has ended, the journey for all the innovators is just beginning. Together, we are building a healthier, happier, and fairer future for everyone in West Yorkshire.
