Hat Trick of successes for fledgling social enterprise

Just eighteen months after leaving Rochdale Council to form a new social enterprise, PossAbilities CIC is celebrating a remarkable ‘hat-trick’ of successes.

Christmas came early for the Heywood based company which supports people with learning disabilities and dementia, winning almost half a million pounds of new funding and being given the highest accolade by the Care Quality Commission inspection body.

Things certainly came in three’s for PossAbilities, beginning with a £267,000 award from The Big Lottery Fund to develop a Homeshare scheme in Greater Manchester. More news followed that Viridor Credits had given £88,000 towards the creation of the new £135,000 Cherwell Wellbeing Garden in Heywood. The icing on the cake came when the Care Quality Commission’s inspection rated PossAbilities as ‘Outstanding’, and it became the only adult social care service to achieve this out of the 89 inspected across the country.

Debbie Westhead, a Deputy Chief Inspector at the Care Quality Commission said, “What really struck us about this service was how dedicated the team was to constantly improving the quality of the service for the people it supported, and their families. People told us they felt safe and well supported, and found the carers to be kind and compassionate, helping them to be more independent”.

Rachel Law, Chief Executive of PossAbilities said “To achieve all of this just 18 months after leaving council control is a tribute to all of our dedicated staff, and to the ‘can-do’ attitude that is making all of these great achievements possible”.

Councillor Iftikhar Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Adult Care at Rochdale Borough Council, said, “PossAbilities cares for some of the most vulnerable people in our borough and it’s clear that they take their responsibilities for this very seriously. PossAbilities was formed as a social enterprise by the council, with many of our talented social care staff transferring into the new service. These fantastic achievements are great news for our residents and show what we can achieve by working in such an innovative way.”