In June 2024, The Care Aware Crew was awarded almost €90,000 by HSE Spark Impact funding scheme, recognising its innovative and impactful approach to delivering healthcare information to school children. Seed funding from The Health Foundation ‘Q Exchange’ programme and local philanthropy allowed the initial development and piloting of the Care Aware Crew across 20 schools in the Midwest. Building on this pilot with feedback from pupils and teachers, the Spark Impact funding award has enabled the development of additional videos, resources and extensive rollout to over 100 schools across the Midwest. As well as providing financial assistance, the Spark award confirms the value of this novel educational programme which has been co-created with pupils, teachers, and partner organisations, HSE Midwest, University of Limerick and Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, led by the Health Sciences Academy.

The HSE Spark Innovation Programme is committed to implementing design principles and innovation methodologies to deliver better healthcare for all. It leverages the intrinsic motivation of frontline healthcare workers to become active agents of change. With the support of the programme, they successfully design, develop and deploy novel solutions to complex challenges for their patients, the colleagues and the wider community.