Seventy four charities have been allocated a share of £6.8m awarded by the Department of Health to "test and develop innovative approaches to improve health and wellbeing" in England.

The funding is allocated from the Department's 2012/13 voluntary sector investment programme - the Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development (IESD) fund - and will be spent on a diverse range of projects.

The Epilepsy Society has been awarded £300,000 to promote early interventions for people with epilepsy in hard-to-reach groups, the Motor Neurone Disease Association will use its £500,000+ grant to expand its wheelchair provision into a national service, and Maternity Action will use its £68,000 to support women and their employers to encourage breastfeeding on return to work after maternity leave. 

The funding was awarded following a bidding process, where charities pitched to the Department how they would use the money to improve care for thousands of vulnerable people.

Paul Burstow, care services minister, announced the awards. Celebrating at a roundtable with charity figures, he said:

"This new funding will improve the lives of thousands of people across England, helping them to lead healthier and more independent lives. It is crucial that we continue to champion our voluntary organisations, because their expertise allows them to design and develop innovative solutions to the big challenges we face in health, public health and social care."

A full list of awardees will be available shortly.

Applications to the 2013/14 IESD fund are expected to open in the summer.