Ripplez CIC will be merging with social business Catch22 at the end of the year.
Chris Wright, Chief Executive of Catch22, and Justine Gibling, Chief Executive of Ripplez, said the acquisition represented an exciting new type of relationship between larger and smaller third sector organisations.
Ripplez, which employs 34 people, delivers a range of early intervention and intensive home visiting services in Derby City, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, including Family Nurse Partnership (FNP), Family First (FF), Derby Community Parent Programme (DCPP), Pause and Teenage Housing Support. All contracts will continue to be delivered as usual, and Ripplez will retain its own branding – so there will be no disruption to service users.
The move came about when Ripplez went to the market earlier this year from a position of strength to identify a strategic partner with an aligned vision, mission and values, who they could look to merge with, to ensure the future sustainability and continuation of their services.
Justine Gibling, Chief Executive of Ripplez, said:
“Following a robust market engagement and selection process we identified Catch22 as our preferred partner.
“At the heart of this change process, and as a key priority for the Ripplez Leadership Team, was our ambition to protect our services and maintain high performance. We believe that through this partnership, Ripplez will be able to continue to deliver effectively on our current contracts and maximise strategic opportunities for future growth to develop and deliver our evidence-based services in more areas.”
She added:
“This partnership demonstrates innovation in how the Public Sector Mutuals can work together to continue to benefit the people who use their services and adapt to a particularly difficult commissioning landscape – small mutuals don’t want to disappear, but might struggle to carry on as independent organisations.”
Ripplez will continue to work from its Derby City Offices and carry on the mobilisation and delivery of our LCF funded Pause social outcome contracts in Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Worcestershire. It will become a part of Catch22’s thriving Young People and Families Hub which currently supports more than 11,000 people across the country – including child sexual and criminal exploitation services, substance misuse, emotional wellbeing, gangs and missing children services.
Chris Wright, Chief Executive of Catch22 said:
“Catch22 has always been interested in being part of creating a more robust voluntary sector and looking at how an organisation with relative scale can create the right kind of environment for a small Mutual to thrive. This merger is a great example of that in practice and we are excited about the potential of our partnership with Ripplez.”
Kate Wareham is Director of Catch22 Young People and Families Hub. She said:
“We’re so pleased to bring Ripplez into the Catch22 family. They’re having incredible impact on the people they work with and I’m looking forward to getting to know the staff and having them as part of the team. Our primary aim is to help them continue to make a positive difference to the lives of women and families so that they can achieve their highest potential and benefit future generations.”