What started as a family surprise has developed into an app letting you countdown to celebrations and special events – a digital advent for any occasion, any time.
MyPeep is the brainchild of Cholsey couple Pam and Darren Evans. Pam wanted to surprise her sister with a countdown for her 50th birthday but couldn’t find what she was looking for – husband Darren came to the rescue and created the app.
They tested it on their son Dylan with a seven-day countdown of things he liked including his favourite songs, photos and news of a treat but while it was created for fun, the couple hope to see the app used to help combat social isolation.
Darren said: “We’d love to see “peeps” being sent to people who live alone or far away from family – just that little surprise could really make their day. We are also now in discussions with initiatives for mental health (PTSD specifically) and well-being, as well as fitness and nutrition type services.”
With MyPeep you can include text and emojis, photos, images and links as well as short clips via the in-app video. Once you’ve created all the content for your windows, invite friends and family to download MyPeep so you can share it with them.
The fun of MyPeep is in the anticipation. Recipients can only open one window at a time – the rest of the windows stay locked until it’s time to open the next one.
The UK’s first customisable digital advent can be used to countdown to birthdays, reunions, parties, weddings, holidays – or simply for brightening someone’s day.
Other opportunities have also been identified including one that will help improve end of life care experience and therefore the quality of palliative care for patients, family members and others important to the patient through a product called Treasured.
Treasured will help in creating daily content, storing memories and allow patients to post for future events. Data is securely held until a specific date and can only be unlocked/made available to relatives and loved ones on that specific date.
The aim is to work in partnership with a national charity who have indicated that Treasured will also assist loved ones in the grieving process.