Response to health equity fund is 'both incredible and depressing', says public health expert

A MULTIMILLION-POUND fund set up by the country's largest investment group to tackle health inequalities in the North East was inundated with hundreds of applications, it has emerged.

- BY GRAEME WHITFIELD Journal Editor [e-mail]

Financial services firm L&G set up the £3m Health Equity Fund last year, trialling the scheme in the North East with a third of the overall funding going to this region.

Grants to a number of community groups have now been agreed, with some of the people behind the scheme saying that the high level of demand shows the importance of businesses helping build healthier communities.

Initiatives supported by the Fund include Youth Focus North East, which is working to improve the lives of young people through a programme that puts young people at the centre of designing, delivering, and evaluating services that affect them.