Whether it's a cosmic act of serendipity or just the result of backlogged Charity Commission paperwork, Carefree and I share a birthday!
37 for me but just 4 for us, and what a landmark year 2021 has been.
We needed to prove that our solution would be adopted by the hospitality industry. Not just for a few hundred, one-off stays but as a genuine mechanism for re-utilising their excess capacity.
There are 1 million unsold hotel rooms in the UK every week. With just 5 hotel chain agreements in place, we’ve unlocked over 30,000 nights for 2022. Our potential for scale has never been stronger.
A few key events have made this all possible.
Firstly, we partnered up with top UK start-up Impala, building an API integration with our booking hub that enables any hotel to release live inventory onto our platform with just a few clicks.
Before we know it, hotel receptions across the country will be displaying the Carefree Breakmaker symbol, demonstrating just how committed we all are to ensuring that every full-time unpaid carer gets the chance to access an annual break.
Secondly, we’ve continued to drive our public and voluntary sector partners to create a nationwide network of 76 referral organisations - onboarding 22 new agencies, inclusive of NHS Foundation Trusts, Local Authorities, health-related charities and carer support organisations.
With public sector resources so incredibly stretched, we’re both excited and grateful to be able to open up fair and geographic access to respite breaks without placing any additional burden on the public purse thanks to the generosity of our hospitality partners.
And finally, due to the dedication of our incredible small team and trustees, we’ve been able to outperform all pandemic expectations and lead the way as one of the UK’s top digital charities.
Our Highlights!
☆ 32,919 nights donated by our incredible hospitality partners to distribute to carers throughout 2022, which was covered by UK Tech News.
☆1001 new carer sign-ups and 215 bookings on the new platform in 8 weeks.
☆Trailblazing with Typeform. We loved filming this web episode on how we built our Community Partner referral pathways using no-code and follow-up interview on how we measure our social impact.
☆Back to school with Section 4. We were personally picked by famed NY Professor Scott Galloway for developing the best brand strategy during his brand sprint. Check out his feedback here.
☆Feeling like film stars with the People’s Postcode Lottery! Here’s a sneak peek of some of the content for the self-referral campaign featuring Jeff Brazier that we’ll be launching next year to find new carers and get them connected to a break.
If you're a bit of a data fiend, our KPIs dashboard is available here for you to deeper look.
What's next?
With such an amazing opportunity of donated inventory open to us, we'll be 100% focused on fast-tracking how many carers are using our service and taking some essential steps to grow the team and further build out the platform.
The first of those new roles is open for application here and we'll also be looking for a super no-code developer and ops manager in the New Year. So if you know anyone that you think would be a great fit, please send them our way!
Signing off with the deepest of thanks for everyone that has made this a special year for us and to Iz, Joey, Peter, Sarine, Stella and Linda before them that have worked tirelessly to make this all possible.
Happy New Year everyone,
Charlotte
