It’s 2025. We live in an age where we can order food at the tap of a screen, track parcels across continents, and get real-time travel updates to the minute. And yet, for something far more important - finding help when life takes a difficult turn - the process is still far too complicated.
Whether it’s a parent looking for a food bank, someone in crisis searching for mental health support, or a council officer trying to signpost services, the journey to the right information often feels like a maze of outdated websites, broken links, and patchy knowledge. The irony? The support is out there - but the pathways to it aren’t clear.
The problem with scattered information
Thousands of charities, councils, and community groups across the UK provide incredible support. But each one lists their services in different ways: some on social media, some hidden in PDF directories, some on websites that aren’t mobile-friendly. For someone under stress, this inconsistency isn’t just inconvenient - it can be overwhelming enough to stop them from seeking help altogether.
Why it matters for councils too
For councils, the challenge is just as real. Teams spend time (and money) maintaining local service directories that quickly fall out of date, leading to duplication and frustration for both staff and residents. Instead of enabling access, fragmented systems often put up more barriers.
A smarter way forward
In 2025, it shouldn’t be this hard. Access to support needs to be simple, consistent, and trustworthy. That means pulling together reliable data in one place, verifying it with the organisations themselves, and making it open and accessible to everyone - whether you’re a professional trying to signpost or an individual seeking help directly.
How Innate Needs is helping
This is exactly why we built Innate Needs, the UK’s largest open-access map of community support. With nearly 13,000 listings and growing, our platform removes the guesswork. We are seeking to partner with councils to cover listing costs for all organisations in their area, ensuring that no group is left out because of fees or admin barriers. For residents, that means a single, trusted place to find help - quickly, confidently, and without the stress.
The bottom line
Support should not be hard to find. In 2025, no one should fall through the cracks because of scattered information or out-of-date directories. By joining forces nationally and locally, we can make sure that getting help is as simple as it should be.