We've always believed that supporting social care means being more than a software provider. It means being a genuine partner. That belief shaped Side by Side, our initiative for standing shoulder to shoulder with the people and organisations who make social care work.
What started as a handful of ideas we cared about has grown into a running thread through our year, spanning partnerships with care associations, sector events, and initiatives shaped around the people we serve, from residential care to supported living and home care. This summer, that took us to a football pitch and an allotment with Certitude.
Stepping Up
Stepping Up is Certitude's community football programme. Three years running, completely label-free, open to anyone in the community who wants to play. When we heard about it, we knew we wanted to be part of it. So we became sponsors, and went along to film it for ourselves.
What we saw on the pitch stayed with us. People turning up every week, for football, for friendship, for a place where they can connect and belong. Family members, support workers, and local residents all play together on a shared interest, with no separation between who's supporting who.
Coach is one of my favourite friends. He taught me everything, how to do football drills, everything. I'm very happy.
— Ghost, Stepping Up participant
This is the true meaning of great care, a place to belong and grow, and we're proud to back it.
Blooming Marvellous
Every Wednesday, Certitude's Blooming Marvellous group meets at the allotment. Open to anyone in the community, it's built around gardening, but what happens there goes further than that. What was once a derelict site is now a blooming, abundant space, tended by people who've built a shared interest and a community around it.
The gardens weren't the only thing that grew.
I've been coming for nearly a year. I used to be really shy, and I'm not shy anymore. - Lisa, Blooming Marvellous contributor
— Lisa, Blooming Marvellous contributor
This allotment means the world to me. I never want to leave.
— Matthew, Blooming Marvellous contributor
More than a tech partner
Sponsoring these programmes is one part of a partnership we want to keep building with Certitude. We want to give something back to the organisations we work with, not just supply the system behind their care. That means putting real support behind the things care teams and the people they support have already built, rather than asking them to build around us.
Watch the mini documentaries on Stepping Up and Blooming Marvellous on YouTube, and look out for more from Side by Side as the partnership continues.
