Designing Services for Social Impact
Supporting North East changemakers to apply lean innovation in service development
Industry
Client
Voluntary Sector
National Innovation Centre for Ageing, Newcastle University
Edge Innovation partnered with the National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) at Newcastle University to design and deliver a series of practical innovation workshops for North East organisations developing products and services for social good.
The first workshop, Designing Services for Social Impact, took place at Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, supporting over 20 participants from the VCSE sector. It brought together charities, social enterprises, community groups and mission driven startups to explore how lean innovation can build more impactful, efficient and financially sustainable services.
The sessions aimed to empower organisations to design better services, reduce risk, and create positive social outcomes for communities across the region.
Key Objectives
Build innovation capability across VCSE and mission led organisations.
Introduce lean innovation as a practical approach to designing and testing new ideas quickly.
Reduce risk and increase efficiency in service development and delivery.
Strengthen financial resilience by helping organisations uncover new revenue opportunities.
Provide hands on support and tools that participants can immediately apply to their own projects.
Create space for peer learning and cross sector connection among organisations making a social impact.
Our Approach
Gave a clear and accessible overview of how lean innovation methods can be used to reduce waste, speed up development, and improve outcomes.
Guided participants on how to de-risk new products and services by offering practical steps for testing ideas early without heavy investment.
Equipped participants with tools and processes for rapid learning through simple, repeatable frameworks they could use straight away.
Facilitated real world practice where participants could apply tools to their own projects, supported directly by Edge and NICA facilitators.
Provided accessible and sector-specific framing using examples and exercises tailored to VCSE needs, including capacity building, income generation, operational efficiency, and evidencing impact.
Managed participant recruitment and administration, handling all outreach, communication, logistics, and delivery planning to ensure a balanced and diverse cohort.
Impact
20+ VCSE participants supported across the first workshop.
High engagement from charities, social enterprises and community-led organisations seeking to innovate with confidence.
Immediate, practical value with tools applied to live projects during the session.
Greater organisational confidence in testing ideas early and reducing delivery risk.
New operational efficiencies identified by participants looking to streamline services.
Exploration of new income streams, helping organisations move toward stronger financial sustainability.
Cross-sector connections built, strengthening collaboration between VCSE organisations, NICA and Edge.
Strong demand for further sessions, reflecting the need for practical innovation support in the region’s social impact ecosystem.
