Welcome to the August issue of our newsletter.
It's less than a month to go until our first Mindset-XR roadshow event of 2025, and we're really looking forward to travelling across the country and meeting anyone with an interest in transforming mental health services through immersive tech.
Details of all the roadshows and how to book your free tickets are below.
For this issue's company spotlight, we introduce winners of Liverpool Tech Climbers "Ones to Watch" two years in a row, Scenegraph Studios, an immersive technology company working in the mental health space by developing VR experiences aimed at promoting mindfulness, relaxation, and emotional wellbeing.
Finally, we were delighted to hear the exciting news that Mindset company Play Well For Life have been shortlisted for an HSJ award! You can read more about this below.
As always, if you have any comments or suggestions for future newsletters, you can get in touch with the team at hin.mindset@nhs.net.
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We're delighted to announce our 2025 UK-wide Mindset roadshow series where innovators, mental health professionals, people with lived experience and others will share how they are using immersive technology to transform mental health services, support people to improve their wellbeing and develop solutions that work.
You can catch us in Leeds, Exeter, Belfast, Dundee, Cardiff and London, and full details of the events and how you can get free tickets are below.
We're so looking forward to meeting people across the country who want to find out more about extended reality for mental health, and why we believe that emerging extended reality technologies offer real hope for the millions of people impacted by mental illness in the UK.
2025 Mindset-XR Innovation in Mental Health Roadshow - North of England
Wednesday 17 September
Central Leeds
Confirmed speakers:
- Holly Coole, Senior Manager Digital Mental Health, Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency
- Mike Kenny, Associate Director of Innovation and Industry Partnerships at Health Innovation North West Coast
Find out more and book your free ticket.
2025 Mindset-XR Innovation in Mental Health Roadshow - South West England
Thursday 25 September
Exeter
Confirmed speaker:
- Nick Peres, Director of Digital Innovation and Transformation at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, and Honorary Associate Professor, University of Plymouth
Find out more and book your free ticket.
2025 Mindset-XR Innovation in Mental Health Roadshow - Northern Ireland
Tuesday 30 September
Central Belfast
- This event will feature speakers from the Northern Ireland Department of Health, leading university researchers in digital mental health and community organisations delivering frontline support
Find out more and book your free ticket.
2025 Mindset-XR Innovation in Mental Health Roadshow - Scotland
Thursday 2 October
Dundee
Confirmed speakers:
- Chris Wright, National Advisor for Digital Mental Health at Scottish Government and Head of Digital Mental Health Programme
- Matthew Hoad Robson, TendVR
- Brian Baglow, Scottish Games Network
- Steph Wright, Scottish AI Alliance
Find out more and book your free ticket.
2025 Mindset-XR Innovation in Mental Health Roadshow - Wales
Thursday 16 October
Cardiff
Find out more and book your free ticket.
2025 Mindset-XR Innovation in Mental Health Roadshow - London and South East
Thursday 23 October
London - SOLD OUT
Confirmed speakers:
- Mary Doherty, Chief Medical Officer South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
- Professor Andrew George, Chair of the Health Innovation Network South London and Chair of Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust
Click here to be added to the waiting list.
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This month, our company spotlight is on Liverpool-based Scenegraph Studios.
Dr. David Tully and Nicola Honey from the company tell us about their VR platform SpiritVR, which offers structured sessions in calming environments, such as beaches or forests, where users can engage in breathing exercises, body scans, and focus techniques.
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Many congratulations to Mindset company Play Well for Life, who have been named among the finalists for a prestigious HSJ Award!
In partnership with the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, their 'Dragons of Afterlands: improving the mental health of young people with physical health conditions' project has been shortlisted in the Reducing Inequalities and Improving Outcomes for Children and Young People category.
This is a great achievement and we are delighted for founder Dr Sarah Campbell and all the team at Play Well For Life.
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You can find out more about the Mindset-XR Innovator Support Programme by checking our dedicated webpages.
We have recently refreshed our project pages by theming innovators on the Mindset-XR Innovator Support Programme into areas of clinical focus.
Elsewhere on the webpage, you'll find every blog we have published since the start of the programme, alongside recordings of our webinars, information on all our partners, the latest news and a range of other useful resources.
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Innovate UK Innovation Loans Round 22
This new loan from Innovate UK supports UK registered businesses for close to market innovative projects with strong commercial potential. Micro, small and medium sized enterprises are welcome to apply, but to be eligible their projects must significantly improve the UK economy and drive societal benefit.
The closing date for applications is 27 August 2025.
Horizon Europe Work Programmes 2025/26
In May, the European Commission published its Horizon Europe Work Programmes for 2025/26 where you can find out more about their priorities for the year ahead and the different funding opportunities available.
The Health Work Programme 2025 has six main priorities, with mental health featuring in two of them:
- Innovative therapeutic interventions and complementary approaches for patients suffering from mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental disorders
- Implementation research addressing strategies to strengthen health systems for equitable high-quality care and health outcomes in the context of non-communicable diseases which includes mental health disorders, neurological disorders and sleep disorders
Find out more in this document published by the European Commission. The closing date is 16 September 2025.
The UK-APAC Tech Growth Programme
This government-backed initiative has been set up to help UK tech firms grow in the Asia Pacific region, de-risking and accelerating the sector's growth. The Programme provides support for UK firms to expand in 11 APAC markets: Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.
If you are a technology startup or scaleup, headquartered in the UK, and keen to explore opportunities in APAC, look no further.
Find out more here.
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'Backing Your Business' - the Government's plan for SMEs
The new Small Business Plan, 'Backing Your Business', sets out a long-term direction for the government’s support for smaller firms, placing their growth and productivity potential at its core while improving the operating environment to start and run a business.
The plan is centred around five key pillars: Future proofing business skills, fixing the fundamentals, unlocking access to finance, backing the everyday economy and opening up opportunities, with the aim of making the UK the best place to start and grow a business, with a culture that supports businesses in every community and high street.
SME Digital Adoption Taskforce publishes its final report
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up the majority of UK businesses. The SME Digital Adoption Taskforce brings industry stakeholders together to address digital adoption barriers amongst SMEs, and has made ten recommendations for the Government to address the challenges in its recently published final report.
These include appointing a minister accountable for SME digital and AI adoption, launching a targeted awareness programme for digital and AI adoption as well as implementing economy-wide reforms – such as introducing common e-invoicing standards.
Life Sciences Sector Plan
The Government recently published its Life Sciences Sector Plan which sets out a ten-year mission to harness British science and innovation to deliver long-term economic growth and a stronger, prevention-focused NHS.
This Plan was shaped with input from over 250 organisations including doctors, scientists, NHS leaders and industry experts to ensure it delivers real impact, and builds on the strong foundations of the 10-Year Health Plan.
The King's Awards for Enterprise
The King’s Awards for Enterprise are for outstanding achievement by UK businesses in one of four categories, including innovation, and applications are now open.
Find out more here, including how to apply and the benefits of winning an Award. The closing date for applications is 9 September 2025.
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Maximising Intellectual Property: Leveraging IP to secure funding
Tuesday 16 September, 10 - 11am, online.
This event, organised by techUK, will feature real-world practitioners sharing their experience of how companies can best formulate their IP strategy, identify protectable inventions and leverage IP to secure funding or safeguard competitive advantage.
Find out more and get your free tickets here.
BMJ Future Health
Thursday 6 November - Friday 7 November, London.
The Health Innovation Network South London is a proud partner of this year’s BMJ Future Health conference. Get ready for two days filled with keynotes, workshops and interactive sessions. This year’s content pillars are:
- Practical adoption of AI in healthcare
- Redesigning clinical pathways through virtual and preventative care
- Workforce & Digital skills in healthcare
- Driving frontline adoption and use of digital health
- Addressing health inequalities through Digital Innovation
- Leadership and culture
Find out more and book your ticket here and if you use the code HINSLFH20 you'll get 20% off the standard rate.
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We hope you have enjoyed this Newsletter. Please feel free to forward on to any contacts you have who you think will find it useful.
If you have received this Newsletter from a colleague and would like to be added to our direct mailing list, please contact us and we will make sure you receive the next issue in September.
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