Best at Home: Personalised care and support

Best at Home is a company that provides personal, nursing and social care, and offers companionship in the comfort of its clients’ own homes. It also takes its clients out and about, depending on their needs. With Best at Home, Asweenah Deane, the company’s founder, has created the kind of social project that helps people in need.

Back in 2009, things were looking pretty tough for Asweenah, and she was in a different kind of need herself. Following her divorce, she went bankrupt and was not able to financially support her children. To get back on her feet, Asweenah thought the time was right to take her chances and set up her own business.

In need of financial support to put her business idea into practice, Asweenah went to a first bank that turned her down because of her precarious personal situation. Eventually, Fredericks Foundation, a Responsible Finance Provider that provides loans to people who want to set up a new business, offered Asweenah a loan guaranteed by EIF through the EU Employment and Social Innovation programme. In Asweenah’s words, “Fredericks Foundation has been a real lifeline as without their financial and overall support, I would not have been able to start my business. I am very thankful and grateful to the whole team. I will most definitely recommend Fredericks Foundation to anyone who has a passion for their business and who is dedicated and committed and a good role model.”

This EU programme, whose aim is to provide microfinance to vulnerable groups who want to set up or develop their business, has thus directly supported Asweenah in realising her own social project. Since her business has started, Asweenah has hired three employees to be able to reach out to more people in need.

Today, Asweenah is very grateful for this opportunity: “I really would not have been able to do any of this without the loan.” She is hoping to expand her business in the future: “I want my business to be a success and to get job satisfaction from it. I want to enjoy what I do every day.”

Company: Best at Home Care Services (United Kingdom)

Type of business: Nursing care

EIF financing: EaSI

Financial intermediary: Fredericks Foundation

For further information about EIF intermediaries in the United Kingdom, please refer to:
http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/gb