Residential Homes
Possum has worked with a number of charities including Leonard Cheshire Disability, Scope and others to provide Assistive Technology solutions throughout residential homes for disabled people. These extensive installations have been carried out when homes are either undergoing a major refurbishment or are being completely rebuilt on a new site. The provision of Assistive Technology throughout the residential home enables the disabled residents to enjoy far greater independence and interaction with each other and staff, family members and visitors.

Leonard Cheshire Disability state of the art residential service
Leonard Cheshire Disability home, Banbury, Oxfordshire, residential home rebuild. The former home was a large, older building sited away from the town in a remote setting and was sold and a brand new facility was built in the town of Banbury. Possum worked closely with Leonard Cheshire Disability to equip the new building with appropriate Assistive Technology throughout. Speaking to the residents of the home in Banbury they are delighted that the new location, together with the widespread use of Assistive Technology, enables them to be a part of the local community. Residents are now able to leave the home and visit shops, cafes and pubs in the town often with a carer but in some cases on their own.

In Nov 2008 the Leonard Cheshire Disability Patron, HM The Queen, visited Banbury to officially open Agnes Court, a new state of the art residential service for disabled people. As part of the tour the Queen saw how Possum technology, fitted in all of the private rooms, helps service users live a more independent life. She also viewed a new IT suite and the specially adapted kitchens that enable disabled people to prepare their own meals. Agnes Court was developed as a result of the re-provisioning of Greenhill House, formerly located in the village of Adderbury, three miles from Banbury. The new residence is easily accessible to Banbury town centre, shopping centre and other facilities enabling the service users of Agnes Court to live within the community.

Possum, Scope and Highgrove Homes recently collaborated to put control back into the lives of the residents of the newly built Rosewarne House in Cornwall. By installing Possum accessible doors, windows, curtains, and integration into the nursecall units at the build stage, Scope are “future-proofing” their new residence, meeting all aspects of the CSCI (Commission for Social Care Inspection) minimum standards, and making sure that someone with any level of physical disability will be able to move in with them in the future.

David Green, Head of Service Transformation at Scope said, "At Scope we are committed to supporting disabled people to have choice and control over their lives. Our services must therefore offer as many ways as possible for individuals to be independent, including access to the right technology. The new facilities at Rosewarne were shaped by the needs and wishes of the disabled people who use them and put them in control of their living environment."

Schools
Valence School is a PMLD (Physical and Multiple Learning Difficulties) school based in Westerham in Kent, the school have recently undertaken a project to offer the students accommodation that is fully accessible to them. There have been four beautifully designed and constructed residential pavilions built (providing accommodation for 36 students) which have been, to use a new turn of phrase, “Possum’d”.

From the moment the students get up they are able to control their profiling bed, open their curtains, air their bedrooms by opening the sash windows, they are able to watch morning TV and operate all the channels. They are able to leave their rooms via InfraRed door operators and head down to the school and begin their day. All of this achieved by specialist accessories, which receive InfraRed, and a Possum controller.

Whilst at school they are able to move as freely as possible and access the different floors with the help of the IR lift controls. Once school is out for the evening they are able to go to the communal areas of the residential pavilions again watch TV and relax in their own rooms knowing that they can operate all their own equipment, and if needed call one of the assistants for help.