On Wednesday 15 November, Someone Cares fought off stiff competition to win the 2023 Cinnamon Incubator Competition at St Peter’s Church, Notting Hill in London.
Since April, Cinnamon have been looking for ambitious church-led social action projects that are addressing emerging challenges in their communities and want to replicate their work. Five finalists pitched their initiatives in front of a panel of judges, nearly 200 guests and an online audience for a chance to win a £25,000 development grants and additional support.
Someone Cares 
Someone Cares is a Liverpool-based charity that provides emotional, practical and spiritual support to families when they have a loved one admitted to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.
Their ambition is to extend support to hospitals across the UK, with the help of church-based volunteers The project was founded by Jenni Calcraft after her young son spent an extended period of time in hospital.
The charity has secured a place on the coveted two-year Incubator Programme, along with the other four finalists, where they will receive support from industry professionals to help them grow and replicate their work for the benefit of communities across the UK.
10 Years of Transforming Lives
Since 2013, the Cinnamon Incubator Programme has helped 53 initiatives go from fledgling organisations to become established charities. Alumni of the programme include Make Lunch and Renew Wellbeing, who are now operating in hundreds of locations across the UK. Projects that have benefitted from the Incubator Programme have replicated in more than 1,000 locations impacting the lives of more than 160,000 people. What’s more, the value of time given by volunteers in these initiatives is estimated to be worth more than £30 million. 
Jenni Calfraft, founder of Someone Cares and winner of the 2023 Incubator Final said: “I’m blown away that we’re going to have the opportunity to see this work grow and replicate in hospitals across the UK.”
Mark Kitson, Associate Director of Cinnamon and director of the Incubator Programme said: “We had five incredible finalists who have courageously started brand new projects. They’re already making a huge difference to people’s lives and we can’t wait to work with them all on the Incubator Programme.”
We’re grateful to all those who joined us for the evening and gave so generously to support these initiatives on their journey of growth and replication.
The 2023 Cinnamon Incubator Competition finalists were
Big Green Heart support people towards forgiveness through training and a mentoring network. Their work enables people to recognise where their emotional burdens come rom and to address root causes of poor mental health. biggreenheart.org
Orchards provide safe housing and a nationwide counselling service for women who have been victims of sexual exploitation so that they are empowered and can flourish independently. orchardsuk.org
Women of Grace create safe spaces for women who have gone through the trauma of female genital mutilation (FGM). They offer advice, guidance, support and resilience building for affected women to heal and live fulfilled lives. womenofgrace.org.uk/
Someone Cares provide emotional, practical and spiritual support to families when they have a loved one admitted to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. freedomchurchliverpool.co.uk/someone-cares
Springboard run a support course for those experiencing both the emotional and practical challenges of separation and divorce.
