Online platform facilitates supporting those in need

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Picture: The Support Crew site.

eHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth

Support Crew is an online platform that makes it easy to coordinate help for people going through a difficult time in their lives. EHealthNews editor Rebecca McBeth speaks to its co-founders.

Support Crew is “an online support platform that makes it easy to give and get a hand”, says co-founder Kelly Banks.

Banks and Janine Williams came up with the idea for Support Crew after Banks’s partner was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

They started developing it around two years ago and released the first prototype at the end of 2016.

She says those going through a life event, such as being diagnosed with a chronic or terminal illness, often struggle to ask people for help.

“People say ‘let me know what I can do to help’, but this relies on that person coming back to ask them,” says Banks.

Warriors and chiefs

Support Crew is a website that allows a ‘support chief’ for the ‘warrior’ going through a difficult time to provide updates on their progress and co-ordinate the things they need help with.

This could include providing meals or companionship, walking a dog or mowing the lawns while someone is in hospital.

Anyone in that person’s support network can go to the site and accept a ‘need’, including people in other parts of the country or overseas who can click through to order meals or other services.

A button can be turned on to show if the warrior is receiving visitors or calls and everyone can get updates on the site rather than calling or texting to be told the same thing.

People can also post messages of love and support, which Banks says is a great mental boost when times are tough.

“It’s nice and easy without a multitude of texts, phone calls and emails and it’s all in one place. You are dealing with your own journey or struggle and to have to coordinate all of that communication is just massive,” explains Banks.

While people often do not like to ask for help, people love being able to lend a hand, especially those who are far away, such as Banks’s aunt in London who has been able to provide evening meals during difficult times.

“We are trying to coach people to say, ‘you are giving people a gift when they get to help’.”

Support Crew already has 1000 users across 15 countries, which Banks and Williams say is entirely through word-of-mouth.

A lean philosophy

The duo followed a sprint-based lean philosophy for development and the first Support Crew prototype was tested at the end of 2016.

“That philosophy enabled us over five days to say, ‘what do we want to do and what should it look like?’” says Banks.

“We’ve maintained that methodology and so we put the site out there as soon as possible and started testing it.”

All new iterations of Support Crew are based on user feedback and the founders have surrounded themselves with a high-profile support team themselves.

They have developed an advisory board, including clinical people such as Dr Will Reedy and others with expertise in venture capital and marketing. They recently added the first woman to their board, vice president customer experience at Hootsuite, Kirsty Traill.

Their non-executive chairman is David Downs, general manager of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is now in remission following treatment in the United States.

“We met him, and he said, ‘we need this, we need a way to ask people for help easily and for people to know how to help us’,” says Williams.

“It’s amazing how much help we have got while building this business from really busy high-profile people who have been really engaged and offered up their time and we are so grateful for that,” Williams says.

An eye on expansion

The site is not restricted to people dealing with health problems and can also be used by people facing a multitude of issues such as divorce, a death in the family, a new baby or a natural disaster.

“It’s potentially hugely beneficial for aged care as it can help people stay at home for longer,” Banks says.

“It’s innate in us to say, ‘I’ll cope’ but we should ask for help.”

The site is free to use, and Support Crew has recently gained its first founding partner, AMP, which is offering the website to its customers.

The co-founders say their objectives this year are to raise awareness and ensure strong adoption of the site. They are also looking to expand overseas.

Future developments involve a community section where people who want to volunteer their time can offer to help people they do not know in need.

“There’s a real possibility to create a whole virtual community around people who need help,” says Banks.