WeKonnekt

WeKonnekt are a group of five pupils from Denbigh High School in Luton: Hasan and Shayaan (Year 10) and Luay, Itesham and Shakil (Year 9), who came together to create WeKonnekt, an app to connect young carers, initially developed for the Apps for Good programme.

The app puts young carers in touch with each other, helps them access support services in their local area and, most importantly, tackle the feelings of loneliness and isolation which many say that they suffer from. The group worked closely with young carers to develop the app, making sure that key issues were addressed. The app includes:

– Access to Babble, a forum for young carers, delivered by the Carers Trust, providing a community of support with other carers.
– Directory of local services, including community centres, doctors and pharmacies – vital for young carers who have had to relocate to support a family member.
– Anonymous real-life case studies of other young carers, to relieve the feelings of loneliness and isolation from their peers.
– Useful links, putting young carers directly in touch with the websites and online services that would be most useful to them.
– Help in an emergency. WeKonnekt’s research showed that young carers need to access emergency help quickly and easily, and so a double-tap immediate call to the emergency services has been built into the app.

WeKonnekt plan to develop the app’s features alongside young carers, and to make it available to Apple phone users (the app is currently only available on Android). They want to make more young carers aware of the support that is available to them, and recently presented the app onstage at Wembley Arena in front of 12,000 people, as part of WE Day UK.

Finalists for the BT Young Pioneer Award, WeKonnekt are supporting young carers with their unique and innovative app. Visit the WeKonnekt website for more information about their app – now available on the Google Play Store. To find out who won the BT Young Pioneer Award, visit the Winners 2016 page.