A Cheltenham man is rolling out his new app, which aims to help families keep in touch with relatives in care homes.
Familigram works by getting family members take and send Instagram-style photos and messages through a special app. These are then transmitted to care homes, which can download their ‘post’ every morning and print each image, ready to hand out to the desired recipient.
It was the brainchild of Tom Wakefield from Woodmancote, who had no efficient way of sending messages and photos to his Gran, who lived in a care home. Tom said: ‘Suggestions to get an iPad for Gran did not go down well, she hated technology and had no intention of taking to it. The care home was happy to pass things on but it wasn’t very efficient, so I set to work to create a solution.’
Users of the app simply post a photo and message, as they would on any other social media platform, choose the care home they want to send to, name the resident and press send.
Tom continued: ‘I love to imagine it’s like those Christmas card delivery days back at primary school when the post box would get emptied and handed around class. Just because iPhones and social media are a huge part of modern life, it doesn’t mean that it should be a use it or lose out attitude for loved ones who are not connected.’
The service is free for use, with care homes charged a small subscription fee and their own printing costs.
For more information about Familigram, contact 020 8050 2848.
