Home care agency · Birmingham

Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)

Rated Requires improvement by CQC Rating published 11 November 2022 Rating 3 years old

Typical fee here £30–£37 an hour Estimate

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A home carer helping an older man with his hair at home Illustrative photo, not of Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)
Address
38 Walnut Close, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, B37 7PU
Run by
SoLO Life Opportunities
Type of provider
Charity (registered charity 1102297)
Service
Home care agency, Supported living
Dementia
Not listed as a specialism with CQC; ask the provider
Registered with CQC
January 2015 (11 years)
Registered manager
Alison Fay Kaufmann
Company check
Active, trading since 2004 (22 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 05025939)
Last CQC check
11 Nov 2022
Typical fees Estimated
£30–£37 an hour for visiting care, weekdays; live-in £1,450–£1,770 a week. Our figure, worked out from published prices in the region; the real price may differ. How we estimate

CQC regulated activities: Personal care

CQC page for this service · CQC location ID 1-1859392140

About Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)

Registered with CQC as a home care agency that also provides supported living, Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) is based in Birmingham, run by SoLO Life Opportunities. It supports adults of all ages and children, with registered specialisms in physical disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and sight or hearing loss.

Its latest CQC rating is Requires improvement overall (November 2022). Safe and Well-led were rated Requires improvement. It is one of 54 CQC-registered home care agencies that have an office within 7 miles of Coleshill; 23 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.

Earlier inspections

  1. Dec 2015 Good
  2. Nov 2018 Good
  3. Nov 2022 Requires improvement
  4. Today Rating 3 years old

Overall ratings CQC has published for this location, oldest first. The latest rating is lower than the one before.

CQC documents

The neighbourhood

Ward
Chelmsley Wood
Parliamentary constituency
Meriden and Solihull East
Local NHS (ICB)
NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board
Setting
Urban (nearer to a major town or city)
Neighbourhood deprivation
Among the 10% most deprived areas in England
Postcode district
Home care in B37 (16)

See the wider area · Directions · OpenStreetMap (ODbL)

Geography: ONS and NHS lookups (postcodes.io), Open Government Licence. Care happens at home, not here: this is where the agency is run from.

The company behind Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)

Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) is run by Social Life Opportunities (solo) (company 05025939), incorporated in 2004, 10 years before this service registered with CQC.

At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 7 active directors and there is no insolvency history.

Its registered business activity is other social work without accommodation.

Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) over the years

CQC registration dates from January 2015, so the service has been operating for around 11 years under its current registration.

CQC has published 3 overall ratings for it (2015–2022), starting at Good and falling to Requires improvement.

The rating is 3 years old. CQC decides when to return based on risk, so age alone is not a warning sign; still, ask who the manager is now.

The CQC website holds 3 reports for it, the latest from 11 November 2022.

Likely fees

We estimate visits from Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) at £30–£37 an hour (visiting care, weekdays), based on published prices in the region. As an example, an hour each morning and a 30-minute evening call comes to about £350 a week.

Regional live-in prices sit at roughly £1,450–£1,770 per week.

If savings are under the upper limit (£23,250 in England), Solihull Council may pay part of the cost after a free care needs assessment.

The inspection, summarised

  • Supported living settings support people to live in their own home as independently as possible.
  • Not everyone who used the service received personal care.
  • This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating.
  • Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided.

Inspected 13 October 2022; report published 11 November 2022. Taken from CQC's own findings (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.

Who it can help

From the CQC register; ask how each need is met in practice.

Around Birmingham

Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other agencies are all within 3 miles, 12 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Advance Healthcare (Saxon Court), under 0.5 miles away.

It is registered for needs that fewer services nearby cover: children (8 of the nearest 25).

3 of the 15 nearest rated agencies have a more recent rating than this one.

It sits in Chelmsley Wood ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB.

The ratings in context

For Social Life Opportunities (SoLo), Safe and Well-led are rated below Good; 3 other areas are Good.

Across Solihull, 6 of 40 rated agencies are Requires improvement for Safe (15%), while 9 of 40 rated agencies are Requires improvement for Well-led (23%).

If you are considering it, read the Safe and Well-led section of the report first and ask what has changed since the inspection.

The five key questions

  • SafeRequires improvement6 of 40 in Solihull
  • EffectiveGood38 of 40 in Solihull
  • CaringGood39 of 40 in Solihull
  • ResponsiveGood38 of 40 in Solihull
  • Well-ledRequires improvement9 of 40 in Solihull

From CQC's latest report, published 11 November 2022. Under each rating: how many agencies in Solihull share it.

Family reviews

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Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) in local context

  • Rated Requires improvement. Across Solihull, 88% of the 40 rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding and 1 is Outstanding.
  • Its rating (November 2022) is more recent than 65% of agency ratings in Solihull.
  • Registered with CQC in 2015: it has been registered longer than 70% of home care agencies in the area.
  • It lists 7 specialisms with CQC; the typical agency in Solihull lists 6.
  • Areas CQC rated below Good: Safe (15% of home care agencies in Solihull are also rated below Good here); Well-led (23% of home care agencies in Solihull are also rated below Good here). Ask the provider what has changed since.

Comparison set: every registered home care agency in Solihull, CQC data for Oct 2026.

Nearest home care agencies

Guides for families

Other home care agencies near Coleshill with recent ratings

Frequently asked about Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)

When was Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) last inspected?
CQC published the current rating on 11 November 2022, 3 years ago. Older ratings are common, so ask about changes since.
Is Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) registered for dementia care?
Its CQC registration does not list dementia. If that is a need now or later, check with the provider before deciding.
Is Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) regulated by the Care Quality Commission?
Yes: CQC lists it as a home care agency under location ID 1-1859392140 and was rated Requires improvement overall in November 2022.
What is Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)'s address?
38 Walnut Close, Chelmsley Wood, Birmingham, B37 7PU is the agency's office; check it serves your postcode.
Is Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) rated well for safety?
By key question, CQC gave: Safe: Requires improvement; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Requires improvement. Safe and Well-led tend to say most about day-to-day reliability.
What are Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)'s fees?
We don't have published prices from Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) yet. Visiting care typically costs around £32–£34 an hour (typical 2026 prices across England). Get the quote in writing, including any extra charges.
Who runs Social Life Opportunities (SoLo)?
The registered provider is SoLO Life Opportunities, according to CQC.
What kind of care can Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) offer?
Social Life Opportunities (SoLo) is registered with CQC for: homecare agencies, supported living. Ask the provider which needs it can meet now and as needs change.

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