Turning innovative ideas into impact

The University of Manchester has long been recognised as a powerhouse of innovation. Gifts to our Ideas with Impact partners’ programme are helping to turn bright ideas into the socially responsible businesses of the future.

By providing vital early-stage funding to entrepreneurial academics, donors help to translate novel concepts into successful spin-out businesses.

Projects supported by the programme include:

Helping more women access healthcare

Women belonging to ethnic minority groups often face barriers when accessing information and support.

With help from our donors, Dr Omolade Allen is working to solve this problem with an innovative approach that brings together information and support services from a number of different providers. This is particularly important for people from Black, Asian, and global majority backgrounds, who have historically been less well- served by the response available in the UK.

Safeguarding food security

From extreme droughts to frequent floods, climate change continues to threaten the security of our food. Most crop varieties we farm today can suffer from up to 50% yield loss due to extreme weather, while a stronger variety normally requires 10 years to develop.

To address this problem, Dr Anil Day and Dr Junwei Ji have developed a new biotechnology that hopes to create climate-resilient crops. If successful, this project will contribute significantly to global food security, safeguarding the harvest for farmers around the world.

Supporting people living with dementia

To help prevent falls in older adults, Dr Stanmore, along with Dr Emma Vardy and Dr Jaheeda Gangannagaripalli, have developed an app providing personalised exercise programs for its users, which has already proven to reduce falls by a third.

Thanks to donor support, the team are now developing a game to expand the app’s benefits to people with dementia – thereby widening its reach and ability to improve lives.