Nearly 50 community micro enterprises are now offering bespoke creative care and support options to older and disabled people across Suffolk after a new project to support them celebrates its first birthday. The new support options available include things like cooking, cleaning, gardening, de-cluttering, counselling, help with washing and dressing, enjoying a meal, odd jobs, errands, arts and crafts, pet care or even support completing a bucket list dream!
Social enterprise Community Catalysts has been running the project to support local people to set up as self-employed or running their own small enterprises across the whole of Suffolk for one year. The project is funded by Suffolk County Council.
We’ve had such an amazing year supporting these creative talented local people to set up and grow their small businesses offering flexible and bespoke care and support. We’ve supported people from a wide range of backgrounds to get set up; some folks have previously worked within the care industry or supported a family member and some have come from nursing, the police force, factories, accountancy, admin….but they all have a passion to support other local people and know what good care looks like.
The project aims to increase the choice of care and support options on offer to older and disabled people at home, and we’re really starting to see that happen. The project has supported 49 enterprises who are assisting around 220 local people.
Veronica Breeze, Community Enterprise Catalyst
Suffolk County Council is committed to putting people at the heart of their care, and that means putting them at the heart of the care market and care delivery too. By helping people create their own small community micro-enterprises around care delivery, we are helping to not only fulfil their dreams to run their own businesses, but we are also raising both the quantity and variety of different care options for people in Suffolk. I want to wish Community Catalysts a very happy 1st Birthday, and I look forward to meeting some of the new businesses they have been instrumental in helping to create soon.
Cllr Beccy Hopfensperger, Cabinet member for Adult Care, Suffolk County Council