Empathy in action:
transforming public services with compassion, data and co-production.

Spark the Difference, your partner in rekindling humanity in public services.

What do we do?

Our work transforms public services by combining empathy, data, and collaboration to create sustainable, human-centred systems.

Why?

Public services, particularly in healthcare and SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), often struggle to meet the needs of the most vulnerable due to systemic barriers, fragmented engagement processes, and a lack of inclusive co-production frameworks (for those who use and also those who provide services). This leads to mistrust, service gaps, and inequitable outcomes for communities.

What’s our goal?

To rekindle humanity in public services by creating inclusive, sustainable, and compassionate systems that improve lives, foster trust, and deliver long-term systemic change.

A woman sits at a table with a microphone listening to a patient tell their story about their experiences of care

We deliver:
engagement, co-design and research projects

A woman at a training conference takes a photo of the presentation slides using her camera phone

We create safe spaces for:
facilitation and training

A woman draws pictures and words on a board to capture what patients say about their care experiences.

We advise on:
strategy and evaluation

  • "Spark helps us think differently. I don't know how they do it, but you always come away going, 'gosh, yes - I hadn't thought of that before'."

    — ICB Commissioner

  • "The session was brilliant. Psychological safety was embedded throughout and I feel I got to explore my vulnerabilities in a safe space whilst acknowledging how we can help those in our Trust."

    — Conference participant

  • "Their style is empathetic and based on building relationships of trust. They have helped our practice managers believe that they can effectively listen to their patients, engage with them constructively, move away from a defensive position."

    — GP Confederation Chief Executive

  • "Fantastic day! Sam is a phenomenal, humble and insightful host."

    — Conference participant

  • "The effort and passion they have displayed from start to finish has been very impressive. The insights and actionable feedback gained from this piece of work will be invaluable to the re-commissioning process."

    — Local Authority Commissioner

  • "It was an absolutely brilliant day - really made me think about how I can change my own practice and make a difference for people in my team."

    — Conference participant

About Us

At the heart of our work, we believe that experience matters.

How we work together is just as important as the work we produce. We use empathy, creativity and the rigour of our 4Cs model to bring you the best of qualitative research and human-centred design tools and approaches.