YourStride and Re-engage launch partnership

YourStride is thrilled to partner with Re-engage to support more people to be active and independent in their communities.

• Re-engage and YourStride team up to help older people to be more independent, confident and happier in their communities
• Re-engage has expertise in tackling loneliness in over 75s, bringing friendship and laughter to thousands in need of company through social activities and a newly launched telephone befriending service, call companions
• YourStride enables older people to get emergency help anywhere in the UK using a multi-award winning call-capable smart watch

Re-engage and YourStride today launched their partnership offering a multi-award winning alarm service to older people supported by Re-engage. YourStride will make a donation to Re-engage’s call companions programme for every purchase through their network. The donations will enable Re-engage to continue growing the programme by training additional volunteers and bringing friendship and laughter to more older people in need of company all over the UK.

Re-engage was founded by Trevor Lyttleton in 1965 after meeting an older woman who lived alone. Realising there were many people in her position, he started Re-engage to help them find companionship and be more socially active.

50 years on, like Trevor, YourStride co-founders Adi and Ewan saw first hand that they could help older people be more active and independent by replacing traditional pendant alarms. People found them stigmatising and because they only worked at home, they felt trapped, further isolating them. It is this shared drive to tackle isolation that has naturally led Re-engage and YourStride to partner.

Meryl Davies, CEO of Re-engage says:

“We are delighted to partner with YourStride to help more older people feel empowered to lead independent, fulfilling lives as they grow older. At Re-engage, we often work with oldest old who are most likely to live alone and find it difficult to access the help they need in times of emergency, rendering them worried to travel or to leave their homes.

Technology like the YourStride watch mean that more older people can have the confidence to lead active lives in their local community, helping them to expand their daily routines and the important social connections we need to ease loneliness.”

YourStride looks like an everyday smartwatch but has the ability to make an emergency call to a 24/7 monitoring team at the push of a button. Older people can use it to get help wherever they are; at home or out and about. The watch can also count steps and measure heart rate. It is the highest rated alarm service in the UK and is enabling older people to be more confident, independent and active.

“Wonderful to feel protected no matter where I go now. Best innovation for a long time in this field.” - Jean

“It gives me the confidence to follow the hobbies I always enjoyed before my illness.” - John

YourStride is a social enterprise supported by Design Council, Resonance, UnLtd and the Big Lottery Fund. The team used cutting edge design techniques while in consultation with older people all over the country to create a personal alarm system that people could be proud of. By partnering with Re-engage they will continue to help older people to be more confident and independent.

YourStride Co-Founder Aditya Kasliwal says:

“I am incredibly excited to partner with Re-engage to support more older people all over the UK. Re-engage are doing so much to tackle loneliness in old age and I am in awe of how quickly they have launched and grown call companions after their regular tea parties and social gatherings were halted by COVID-19.”

To learn more about the social enterprise and charity involved in this partnership please visit YourStride and Re-engage.