What this is, and what it isn't
Family Access is a small, quiet companion app — designed to keep you in touch with your relative's world at Whiteley Village without intruding on their independence.
You don't get to see everything they do, and you won't be reading their private messages. What you do get is a calm view of community life — what's on, what's been shared, how the village is doing — and a way to reach them, and the people looking after them, when you'd like to.
Your relative remains the author of their own life. We're simply making it easier to stay close.
What you'll see
When you sign in, you'll find:
Getting set up
Three steps. None of them complicated. Take them at whatever pace suits you.
- Register Visit whiteley.voicevillage.co.uk, tap Family Access → at the bottom of the welcome page, then New to Family Access? Register here. Fill in your details and your relative's name — that's how we connect you to them.
- Verify your email We'll send you a short email — just tap the green button inside it. That confirms you're you, not someone pretending to be a relative.
- Wait for approval An administrator at the village will check your registration and approve it. You'll receive a second email — this one inviting you to sign in. Usually within a day or two.
Apple's iPhone has an unusual rule about app-style notifications from websites: they only arrive if the website has been added to your Home Screen first. Without this step, alerts won't reach you — silently. We don't know they didn't arrive, and neither do you.
It's a quick one-time step:
- Open Village Voice in Safari on your iPhone
- Tap the Share button at the bottom (the square with an upward arrow)
- Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen
- Tap Add
From then on, open Village Voice using the icon on your Home Screen — not from Safari. That's all.
If you'd rather not, you can still use Family Access — you simply won't receive push notifications. Other features work as normal.
About alerts
You'll occasionally receive notifications on your phone. We've been deliberate about this — we will never bombard you with trivia. Notifications are reserved for moments when something genuinely matters.
The most important is the emergency alert. If your relative triggers an emergency from within Village Voice, you'll receive a clear notification on your device. This is in addition to any 999 call they make — not instead of it. Emergency services are always the first response; you are kept informed.
This is one of the genuine reasons we ask iPhone users to add the app to their Home Screen. Without that step, an emergency notification has nowhere to land.
About privacy
Your relative remains in charge of what they share. Family Access is read-only for most things — you can see what the village publishes, what your relative chooses to post, and what's been agreed to be visible to family.
You will not see your relative's:
- Private messages or notes
- Medical profile or detailed health information
- Day-to-day location or movements
- Diary entries or personal recordings
You will see what would feel natural to be shared with a thoughtful relative — community news, events, stories the village has shared, the general rhythm of life. The Wellbeing Notes are a shared space where you and your relative's circle can add small things that help — never replacing your relative's own voice, but adding to it.
About the trial
Village Voice and Family Access are in trial phase. During the trial, Family Access is free — you won't be asked to pay. The platform will move to a small subscription in due course, and we'll give you plenty of notice before that happens.
If you'd like to give us feedback during the trial — a feature you wish existed, something confusing, something that delighted you — please tell us. You're shaping how this becomes.
If you need help
If something isn't working, or you'd just like to talk to someone:
- Email us at enquiries@voicevillage.co.uk
- Or use Quick contact inside the app to reach a village operator
We answer in plain language. If we don't yet have an answer, we'll tell you that too.