The 2025 Care Innovation Challenge reached an exciting finale at this year’s Care Show Birmingham, with Making Space Charity crowned as Challenge Champions for their creative and impactful ‘Making it Real Game’. Their innovation captured the imagination of attendees and judges alike, showcasing the power of fresh thinking in adult social care.

Our media partners and Challenge mentors, CMM met up with the winning team to hear about their Care Show experience and you can read their interview here.

We extend heartfelt congratulations to all our incredible semi-finalists—Molly Baldini, Dr Shelley James – The Light Lady, Carpe Care, and David G.—whose energy, expertise and commitment made this year’s competition truly inspiring.

A huge thank you goes to our dedicated mentors and judges, whose guidance and support helped shape the journey of each team. We’re also deeply grateful to our sponsors and partners, including Care Management Matters, Nourish Care, TLAP, Person Centred Software, Coventry University, and many more, for making this challenge possible.

Thank you to everyone who visited stand D13 to meet our semi-finalists, explore their innovations, and cast your vote. Your engagement and feedback are invaluable as our teams continue to develop their ideas.

If you’re passionate about transforming adult social care, applications for the 2026 Care Innovation Challenge are now open: https://careinnovationhub.org.uk/challenge