A rollercoaster year for care

By David Lynes, CEO and Founder of Unique IQ

Typically, it’s at this moment in the year when we start to reflect on the months past and look forward to what’s to come. And as I started to reflect on 2020, I felt overwhelming relief that we’ve got through the year.

2020 has been a rollercoaster for everyone. Extremely emotional, so many of us have suffered losses on a scale we have never experienced before. Lost jobs, lost livelihoods, lost freedoms, lost lives.

It’s been a year since we’ve come to reflect on our loved ones. The people we haven’t been able to see. The people who have suffered. The people who have worked so hard for others who have needed them, sacrifice their own wellbeing for a much greater, more pressing, cause.

And I think we have come to realise how much we have taken the 21st century for granted. All of the hustle and bustle, going shoulder to shoulder on the tube, having the leisure time and freedom to meet up with friends, family and colleagues whenever we wanted to (or didn’t want to). Oh, how we yearn for those connections now.

A year of change

Certainly, it has been a year of change. A year where we have both embraced new things and been forced to adapt to new circumstances.

Being a business owner working within the care sector has been a strange position to be in this year. Those of you who know a bit about Unique IQ, will know that 2020 has not been without its highs. For starters, we won two awards this year – best home care software back in March and best management software supplier to the care industry just last month. And despite being set against the darkest of backdrops, we managed to make another year of progress, building teams and making new friends.

All of which is worthy of celebration, of course. But it is hard not to feel the pain within the care sector. People we count as friends are exhausted, trying to navigate tier 3 restrictions, staff dropping all around them, struggling to roll out testing kits and secure enough PPE. We might try to play a small role with our tech, but ultimately when it comes to most of these challenges, it is tough to stand by and know that there really isn’t much you can do.

Drawing to a close

So as the year draws to a close, I think we can only look towards 2021 with hope. Hope that change will happen next year, be that in the form of vaccines or something else, that enables us to come back together and start flourishing again.

Thank you to all of our friends, families and supporters, the people who have endorsed, liked and believed in what we are trying to achieve. I wish you and your loved ones a very happy festive season and a hopeful new year.

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