We leave home for the first time, enjoy the freedom of a first pay cheque, rebuild after life’s unexpected turns, or stay in the home we love as we grow older. The circumstances may not always be chosen, but the desire is the same — to live on our own terms, surrounded by the people, places and memories that matter.
That’s why independent living isn’t defined by age, circumstance or ability, but by living the way we want to. Our ambition is not simply to help people live independently, but to make that life rich in confidence, connection and continuity, for as long as they choose it.
Every independent life is supported by a network of relationships that develops over years: family, friends, neighbours, familiar faces, shared routines and the quiet reassurance that comes from belonging somewhere. Some of those people live around the corner. Others may live hundreds or thousands of miles away.
Distance changes where people live. It doesn’t change who matters.
OurGrapeVine exists to help those connections stay part of everyday life — not by replacing them, but by giving the people you choose a quiet, ordinary way to stay close to how you’re doing, wherever they happen to be. That circle is yours to build: family near and far, old friends, a carer or support worker you trust, a neighbour two doors down. They don’t need to know each other. They just need to care about you. Inviting them is how you say the thing that’s otherwise hard to say — you’re not disturbing me.
Every life has its own rhythm.
It emerges from ordinary moments that, on their own, seem insignificant: the kettle boiling, the dog being walked, a message answered, a neighbour saying hello, a coffee with friends. None of these moments tells the whole story. Together, they create something quietly reassuring — a sense that life is unfolding as expected.
Neighbours have always read these signs without anyone calling it anything. Curtains drawn back by nine. The milk taken in. A gate closed, a light on, the car gone from the drive. Nobody agreed to any of it — it simply meant the day had started, and if it didn’t appear, someone knocked.
OurGrapeVine adds a sign from inside the house, readable from two hundred miles away.
It listens for one gentle sign, and you choose where it comes from. It can be as simple as pressing a button each day. Or it can come quietly from something you already do first thing: a smart plug behind the kettle picks up the morning routine without anyone having to remember anything.
No cameras. No wearables. Nothing to wear or carry. Whichever you choose, the people you’ve invited see, simply and plainly, that the day is unfolding as usual — and hear from us gently when it isn’t.
Nothing replaces a visit. OurGrapeVine just makes it easier to make one.
Most days, nothing needs to happen — from us. Just a quiet sign that the day is unfolding as it usually does, shared with everyone who cares. What they do with it is up to them, and a good day is as good a reason to get in touch as a quiet one.
Sometimes a reassuring glance is enough. Sometimes it’s a text, a phone call or a visit. The people you’ve chosen have a shared space for all of it — a note on an ordinary day, a photo, a plan to come over, and yes, a quick word between them when something needs sorting. Most of what gets said there has nothing to do with an alert. That is rather the point.
On the days it looks different, everyone knows at once.
No technical knowledge needed, and nothing about it is permanent — you’re in control of every part, and can change it whenever your life does.
Create your account
Quick sign-up with your email. No technical knowledge needed, no complicated setup.
Choose your circle
Invite the people you’d like to stay gently connected with. Family, friends, neighbours, carers — anyone you’d want in the picture. You’re in control of who’s included and what they see.
Choose your sign & preferences
Pick the daily sign that suits how you live — a simple button you press, or a smart plug on something you use first thing, like the kettle — then set the morning window you’d normally be up in. You can change any of it at any time.
Free forever, with the manual check-in ready to use straight away. No commitment, and you can cancel any time.
Free forever. Cancel any time. Upgrades available once you have an account.
We’ll send a code to your email — no password needed.
New to OurGrapeVine? Create an account
Everything you might want to know before you get started.
The service
No. OurGrapeVine is not a falls alarm and does not detect falls or medical emergencies. It watches for a simple, ordinary sign that everything is carrying on as normal — from whichever sensor you choose — and alerts your circle when that sign doesn’t appear when you’ve said it should, so they can reach out.
If you need a falls alarm or emergency response service, please look for a dedicated personal alarm provider. OurGrapeVine works well alongside one.
No — and it’s important to be honest about this. OurGrapeVine watches for a daily sign that the home is being lived in. When that sign doesn’t appear when you’ve said it should, it flags it. It can’t tell you why. A quiet day might mean a long bath, a trip out, an afternoon with a book — or something worth checking on.
There is no substitute for visiting and checking in person if you are concerned. OurGrapeVine gives you one more reason to reach out — not a reason to assume everything is fine.
One thing: that you’ve been up and about in the morning. You pick where that sign comes from — a simple button you press, or a smart plug on something you use first thing, like the kettle.
It never sees specific detail: not what you’re watching, not which room you’re in beyond the broadest sense, not what you’re doing. Only that the appliance was used, and roughly when.
Worth knowing: the plug needs to go on something used in the morning, because that’s the sign being watched for. A kettle works well. A lamp or a television that only goes on in the evening would look like a quiet morning every day.
Either way, OurGrapeVine is only one part of the picture — not the whole of it. The people in your circle provide the rest.
Your circle
Anyone you choose. Family near and far. Friends. Neighbours. A carer. A support worker. Anyone who’d want to be gently in the picture — and who you’d want there.
They don’t need to know each other. They just need to care about you. The circle shares the same daily signal, so nobody carries it alone.
Yes — and this is one of the things people love most about OurGrapeVine. If you and a friend both use OurGrapeVine, you can each add the other to your circles. You look out for them; they look out for you. Nobody asks, nobody intrudes. It just happens, quietly.
Groups of friends, neighbours, or former colleagues all living alone can create a genuine mutual support network — without anyone ever having to ask “are you okay?”
No. Nobody in your circle can see specific appliances, movements, or activities. They only ever receive a notification when your chosen sign doesn’t appear when you’ve said it should — and even then, the notification says only that the day has been quiet, not what you’re doing or not doing.
On a typical day, they hear nothing at all. That silence is the reassurance. Your privacy is completely intact.
Getting started
No. Daily check-in needs nothing at all beyond the app, and automatic detection uses a smart plug, which simply sits between the wall socket and something you already use first thing in the morning — the kettle is the usual choice.
Straight away. You choose the one thing that matters — the window you’d normally be up and about in the morning. There’s no waiting period and nothing to learn first, and you can change the window at any time.
Not at all. You choose a single, simple sign — a button you press, or a smart plug on something you already use in the morning — and give permission for that one signal to be shared with us. The plug runs quietly in the background with nothing to wear, charge or remember; and if you’d rather have something more active, a daily button press works too. Either way, it’s one gentle signal, and nothing more.
Notifications
There is one thing we watch for: nothing detected during the morning window you’ve chosen. You set that window yourself, so it reflects when this household is actually up and about rather than a generic standard. Once the day’s first sign appears, your circle sees it and nothing more is sent.
If the morning does pass with nothing, we get in touch with you first — not your circle. Putting the kettle on settles it, and there’s nothing to click or reply to. An hour later, if we still haven’t seen anything, we ask again. An hour after that we let your circle know, and then we stop. Everything we’ve done appears in the chat as it happens, so anyone looking can see where things stand.
We never decide who among your circle ought to do something, and we never ask anyone to go round. We tell you, then we tell them, and what happens next is yours.
We’ll also tell your circle if the smart plug stops reporting, or is switched off at the socket — because a plug that can’t detect anything looks exactly like a quiet morning, and you should never be left thinking you’re covered when you’re not. While that’s the case, the morning check is held back rather than firing an alert nobody can act on.
You can suppress notifications on specific days — for example if you regularly go out, or are planning to be away.
You can pause notifications for a set period directly from the dashboard. This prevents alerts firing when your absence is planned and expected.
Pausing is the right thing to do for any trip. Nothing is inferred from your absence and nothing needs re-learning when you get back — the morning window you set is the whole of it, so the service picks up exactly where it left off.
Privacy & data
Yes. Your data is only visible to you and the contacts you have explicitly added. It is never shared with third parties or used for advertising.
Whichever sign you choose, the service sees only the simple signal it needs — whether the home’s usual rhythm is carrying on — not which specific appliances are on, which room you’re in, or what you are doing.
Cost
Opening an account is free, and the manual check-in option stays free permanently — so you can settle in with no commitment and cancel any time.
The upgrade adds two halves of one thing: a smart plug notices activity on its own, so nothing has to be remembered, and if a morning goes quiet we get in touch to settle it before anyone else is troubled. Free leaves a note in the app. Paid comes and finds you. Upgrade pricing is shown in your account.
Yes. Daily check-in is free permanently, so you can use OurGrapeVine without paying anything at all — though on the free plan a quiet morning appears in the chat and nothing else happens.
Automatic detection and the follow-up together are £9 a month, and start with 30 days free from the moment your plug first detects activity — not from when you sign up, so nothing is used up while you’re still setting it up. There’s no minimum term, and you can cancel at any time.
