An AI-powered sleep platform heading for NHS trials and a sensory travel review app that has already partnered with Liverpool ONE and Liverpool John Lennon Airport are among nine ventures credited with generating more than £5.2m in social value through a Liverpool City Region innovation programme.
Citizen First LCR, backed by the Liverpool City Region’s Life Sciences Innovation Zone, has helped entrepreneurs turn their lived experience of health and care challenges into new businesses. An independent evaluation by Brunel University London and Northumbria University found the programme generated more than a tenfold return on its £500,000 investment during its first year.
The programme combines business support from Public Life with technical expertise from the University of Liverpool, enabling participants to develop businesses aimed at improving health and care outcomes.
Researchers described the initiative as a “truly innovative, life-changing” model and said it represented “a missing layer of civic infrastructure that warrants expansion to other towns and city regions.”
Among the businesses highlighted is MySleepHealth, an AI-guided sleep support platform created by former Manchester United football coach Sean Bailey after a serious spinal injury led him to recognise the importance of quality sleep in recovery.
Designed to support people living with autism, ADHD, insomnia and shift work disorder, the platform has secured investment, is preparing for NHS trials and has earned Bailey a place on Alder Hey Children’s Hospital’s innovation programme.
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Also emerging from the programme is Sensified Spaces, developed by Liverpool travel agent Faye Boswell. The platform enables neurodivergent people to review and access information about sensory environments before visiting public places.
The business has already secured investment, a partnership with a national healthcare provider and pilot partnerships with major venues including Liverpool ONE and Liverpool John Lennon Airport, representing a combined annual footfall of more than 52 million visitors.
Together, the nine businesses created through Citizen First LCR have secured more than £376,000 in investment, grant funding and commercial partnerships.
Liverpool City Region Cabinet Member for Innovation Cllr Liam Robinson said: “These results show the enormous value that can be unlocked when we invest in the talent that already exists within our communities.
“Citizen First is helping people with lived experience of health and care challenges develop solutions that can improve lives, create businesses and support economic growth.
“The remarkable return on our investment demonstrates that backing local people isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a smart investment that delivers real returns for communities, public services and our economy.”
James Green, founder and CEO of Public Life, added: “What these nine entrepreneurs have built in twelve months is remarkable – but they’re not the exception. The people closest to our biggest social challenges often have the best business ideas – but the least ability to act. What the Liverpool City Region has pioneered is a way to find those hidden entrepreneurs, give them the support they need, and systematically mobilise a whole place behind them. There are hidden entrepreneurs in every town and city in the country – and Liverpool has just shown the country how to unlock them.”
Professor Iain Buchan, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Liverpool, said: “This significant economic return is testament to the pioneering entrepreneurs who have used their lived experience and deep understanding of their communities to develop practical solutions to important health and care challenges. Through their passion and commitment, they have worked with scientists, engineers, health and care professionals, and established industry partners to develop ground-breaking solutions.
“This work and its clear success epitomises our University’s civic mission – to push boundaries in science and technology while addressing the real needs of our communities.”
Citizen First LCR provides participants with a Real Living Wage, seed funding and business support, alongside access to researchers, technologists and health experts through the University of Liverpool’s Civic Health Tech Innovation Zone.
The programme recruited participants through a CV-less process focused on lived experience and potential rather than formal qualifications. An open call attracted around 200 applications – 24 times more than the number of available places – with 87% of applicants reporting direct experience of economic disadvantage.
More than 50 organisations across the Liverpool City Region contributed expertise and mentorship during the first year, with organisers saying interest from other city regions suggests the model could now be expanded elsewhere.
Meet the entrepreneurs:
Faye Boswell, Sensified Spaces
Faye came to Citizen First after working as a travel agent on the high street in Liverpool. Having a sister and young nephew who are both neurodivergent, her idea grew from watching them struggle to plan days out searching TripAdvisor for sensory reviews until a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre, where a simple sign rating a ride’s sensory impact gave her the blueprint.
Twelve months later, Sensified Spaces is a functioning platform for neurodivergent people navigating public spaces. She has secured thirteen Liverpool City Region pilot partners, seven already active, including Liverpool John Lennon Airport, the M&S Bank Arena and Liverpool ONE. She has collected over 200 sensory surveys, a working app in testing, and a paid B2B pilot with a national healthcare provider across five clinics.
Sean Bailey, MySleepHealth
When Sean Bailey broke his spine, he was told he might never walk again. During a long rehabilitation he noticed that his neurological and physical recovery accelerated dramatically whenever he got deep, high-quality sleep. Realising that 1 in 3 UK adults quietly battles chronic sleep issues, Sean knew he had found his mission.
In just twelve months, MySleepHealth has grown from a single local clinic into a digital health platform with an NHS trial pathway. The standalone mobile application is fully built and actively undergoing phase testing, with trials agreed in two NHS settings. Sean has secured investment and grant funding and has been accepted onto Alder Hey Children’s Hospital’s innovation programme.
Frankii Panchoo, Hair: Anywhere
As a local hairdresser, Frankii saw how people with mobility challenges are quietly excluded from something most take for granted. Around 80% of UK salons are inaccessible in some way. She is building the UK’s first fully accessible mobile salon to bring the high street to them.
First prototype van designed and built; currently in pilot, with plans to scale to a national fleet.
Leanne Lucas, Let’s Be Blunt
Leanne was the yoga teacher who survived the July 2024 Southport attack. She is building a social business to replace sharp-tipped kitchen knives with rounded ones, a single design change that aims to reduce knife-related harm at its source.
CIC established; national partnership with Viners, the Liverpool-based UK knife manufacturer; rounded-tip knives carrying her message launched across hundreds of Morrisons supermarkets nationwide in March 2026. citeturn3search1
Katie Bowater, Young Entrepreneurs Club
As a young founder herself, Katie saw how lonely and challenging setting up a business can be. She has built Young Entrepreneurs Club, the UK’s first network for founders under 35, combining business support with mental wellbeing.
15 events engaging 300 young people over the past year; the YEC app built to grow reach; a subscription membership launched and now generating revenue.
Ceara Byrne, Laurel’s Wood
Inspired by how nature transformed life for her own son, Ceara runs nature-based wellbeing programmes for children in a once-neglected woodland, with a particular focus on those with special educational needs.
Sessions sell out weekly, with thousands participating in person over the past year; social investment secured to launch the Laurel’s Wood Academy for young people at risk of becoming NEET.
Abeer Al-awlaqi, AA Health & Nutrition
A registered nutritionist, Abeer saw women struggling silently with menopause symptoms they didn’t understand, particularly in minority ethnic communities like her own, where women are around 65-70% less likely to receive HRT. She has built a culturally informed menopause and nutrition service delivering 1:1 clinics, community programmes and workplace partnerships.
Funding secured; new paid-for offer developed and piloted.
Mat Richards, Inclus-Ability CIC
Excluded from physical activity as a disabled child, Mat is building the inclusive sport experiences he wished he’d had, combining accessible activity, media and immersive technology, co-designed with disabled people.
Funding secured and revenue generated; business delivering regular sessions in community settings, including a local school and a care home. citeturn3search1
Lorcan McGuinness, Braywell Robotics
Lorcan has been building robots in his bedroom since he was 16. He joined Citizen First to turn that passion into robots that improve people’s lives.
Working prototype robotic arm built; applications being explored with the Royal Liverpool Hospital, including improving working conditions in surgery. The programme has led him to choose further study alongside his business ambitions, to deepen the expertise behind the business.
