​The Coeur Blanc Challenge, established in 2008, is a bi-annual ski event in which teams attempt to complete a full journey on every lift in the Méribel Valley within a single day. The route covers 85 kilometres across 8.5 hours of skiing-equivalent to travelling up and down Mount Everest twice. Since its inception, the Coeur Blanc has raised more than £2.25 million for charitable causes, with 100% of funds going directly to beneficiaries.
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The Coeur Blanc 2026 Challenge is partnering with the Blackbird Initiative to help transform amputee care for children, veterans, and communities worldwide. With your support, we can take the evidence-based steps that change lives-one breakthrough, one skier, and one step at a time.
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The Coeur Blanc Challenge – The Solution
The Coeur Blanc 2026 Challenge seeks to raise over £150,000 to fund the first controlled, university-led study comparing three prosthetic socket technologies:
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Hands-on sockets – the current NHS gold standard, created through traditional clinical casting
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Hands-off sockets – two next-generation, direct-on-patient systems, including thermoplastic and resin-based re-mouldable technologies
The 12–18 month programme will recruit up to 60 adult participants in the UK via NHS and charity partners. The study will assess:
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Mobility and functional performance
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Comfort and durability
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Clinical efficiency
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Cost-effectiveness
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Overall patient experience
Its findings will provide the evidence required to shape future NHS practice and to improve paediatric and community prosthetic care worldwide. The study will also establish the research framework needed to accelerate the next generation of innovations in prosthetic products, services, and support systems.
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Building the World’s First Evidence-Based Model for Scalable Amputee Care: The Blackbird Initiative
Today, millions of amputees still receive care based on outdated methods and decades-old assumptions. The programme’s goal is simple but ambitious: to generate the evidence needed to unlock faster, fairer, and more effective prosthetic care for everyone who needs it.​
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Across the world, amputees face significant challenges, including:
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Long waits for assessment and fitting
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Inconsistent care that varies widely by geography and available resources
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Outdated technology and painful, uncomfortable fittings
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High abandonment rates, particularly among children who quickly outgrow their sockets
Key barriers include cost, scalability, and the absence of an evidence-based global standard.
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Traditional prosthetic sockets require skilled hand-casting, multiple visits, long delays, and expensive clinical infrastructure. This model fails in low-resource and crisis settings.
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Despite these challenges, promising innovations already exist. Blackbird partners have supported more than 600 amputees to access next-generation, re-mouldable sockets that are faster, lighter, cheaper, and easier to fit. These technologies have the potential to transform global access—but only if rigorous scientific evidence demonstrates that they perform as well as, or better than, current gold-standard methods.
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Who Is Involved – The Blackbird Initiative & The Coeur Blanc Challenge
The Blackbird Initiative is a public–private partnership bringing together Imperial College London, the University of Strathclyde, the UK’s National Centre for Prosthetics & Orthotics (NCPO), the Centre for Doctoral Training in Prosthetics & Orthotics (CDT P&O), clinicians, engineers, innovators, and humanitarian partners. Together, they aim to build the first global blueprint for equitable, scalable amputee care.
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The Coeur Blanc Challenge, established in 2008, is a bi-annual ski event in which teams attempt to complete a full journey on every lift in the Méribel Valley within a single day. The route covers 85 kilometres across 8.5 hours of skiing—equivalent to travelling up and down Mount Everest twice. Since inception, the Coeur Blanc has raised more than £2.25 million for charitable causes, with 100% of funds going directly to beneficiaries.
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Donations & Charitable Oversight
Donations in support of the Blackbird Initiative through the Coeur Blanc 2026 Challenge are received and administered by Prospero World, a registered charity in England and Wales. Prospero World is delighted to be partnering on the charitable aspects of this programme.
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All funds received for the Blackbird Initiative are restricted exclusively to supporting its charitable research, evidence generation, and programme costs.
