What happened next

A lot has happened for the Dragons and the Participants since the Dragons' Den event at the end of January 2011.

Below, are some testimonies from both the Dragons and the Participants

Dragons' testimonies

"It was a great event! We invited 2 of the pitching participants to the ADASS Spring/Summer seminar in Newcastle to pitch again directly to the DASS's - they are now starting to build new projects. In Lancashire, we are taking forward two of the ideas, and are looking into setting up contracts to do some work around our Help Direct service. The Dragons' Den event informed my thinking around local area co-ordination. I got a huge amount out of the event!"

Richard Jones, Lancashire

Participants' testimonies

"The Dragons' Den event has definitely helped us to get Friends and Neighbours moving in Sandwell. We now have a residents steering group to manage the scheme in Soho, Victoria, and they are about to set up a Community Interest Company. Until we had the local resources in place, it was difficult to follow-up with the Dragons - but we would now like to do so. In the immediate future, we need some support with developing and managing the evaluation of the new scheme we have established."

Rosie Edwards, Sandwell Council Anti-Poverty Manager

"Since the Dragons' Den event, our project has now moved into a much more advanced stage. This has included the development of outline business cases and the aspirations and aims of the project have been discussed at the senior level. They have given approval for the formation of a Project Team to take to the next stages. The Dragons' Den event helped to raise the profile of our work (in ASC and with partners), and also aided in setting this into the wider context of Social Capital and how this relates to the whole Social Care and Health and Well-being agenda. We have also made valuable links with a couplle of specific projects (Community Catalysts and Spice), and this has helped to develop our thinking about future work on time banking."

Mick Ward, Leeds Council Head of Commissioning for Adult Social Care

"The Dragons' Den helped with the sharing of best practice with other providers across the country, which helped to identify where the services we provide were confirmed as being essential to many other providers. The Dragons' Den event helped with identifying the areas that need improving with regards to joint working and further development. Since the Dragons' Den, we have launched Help at Home Plus which is very similar to the original scheme but is more inclusive in that it is open to people from the age of 60 rather than 65, and there are no restrictions on the number of hours, so we can be more flexible in meeting the needs of older people and their carers. Since the event, we have made good links with Sandwell and Leeds which has enabled us to share experiences on providing services for a wide range of older people. We have also formed a strong link with Ritchard Brazil who has given us a lot of time and advice on sustainability and moving the service forward. and has helped us to see things in a different light. We are hoping to be able to make a link with Professor Martin Knapp so that we can work on the evidence we have gathered and make the scheme more effective."

Richard Shearing, Manager at 'Help at Home' Age UK

Click here to read what we think the day achieved (opens new window)