Council's POPPs project receives national recognition

Rochdale Council's Partnerships for Older People Project (POPPs) has received national recognition by a local university.

The University of Salford has selected Rochdale's POPPs as one in which other similar schemes should be judged against. Rochdale's POPPs model was brought in by the Liberal Democrats and sets out to proactively reach people who are struggling to stay independent by offering more community involvement and empowerment.

Councillor Greg Couzens said: "The Council's POPPs programme has been evaluated by Salford University and selected by the POPPs National Evaluation Team for further scrutiny because of the lessons which can be learnt nationally. Thus far, the findings are overwhelmingly positive in terms of improved quality of life, access to services and local activities. 0161 720 2647

He added: "The implementation of the POPPs project sits alongside the transformation of Adult Social Care and will play an essential part in the future structure of the health and social care economy. POPPs is the first step in developing a range of preventive low level services which support older people to stay healthy and independent. I wish to congratulate the Cabinet Member for Older People, Councillor Maguire, for her pioneering and challenging work"

Councillor Pauline Maguire finished off by saying "I am delighted with the success that POPPs has been in Rochdale so far. Since the end of August we have commissioned 31 new services & activities including IT classes, carers support groups, a volunteer driver scheme and much more. It is vital that we provide a flexible service to help older people stay independent. We will be looking into developing POPPs even further over the next few years and building on what has worked well so far.