Meet the Founder

Hi, I’m Jenny, founder of CloseKin.

For more than 20 years, I’ve worked with children, young people and families in mental health services, both within the NHS and in private practice. Before becoming a child mental health nurse, I spent eight years working in special education, and today I also work in health technology, helping develop digital solutions for NHS mental health services.

But I’m also a parent of a neurodivergent child.

So I know, both professionally and personally, that loving your child and feeling connected to them aren’t always the same thing.

As children get older, conversations can become shorter. You ask, “How was school?” and get “Fine.” You know there is probably more going on, but you don’t always know what to ask next — or how to ask without making it feel like an interrogation.

Over the years, I’ve seen how powerful small moments of genuine connection can be for children, teenagers and their parents.

That’s why I created CloseKin.

CloseKin gives parents and young people a different way to open conversations. Through simple questions, shared check-ins and gentle prompts, it helps families talk about feelings, school, relationships and everyday life — including the things that can sometimes be difficult to say face-to-face.

CloseKin isn’t designed to replace real conversation or keep families attached to an app.

Quite the opposite.

The app creates the opening. The family creates the conversation.

And when connection feels stronger, you shouldn’t need CloseKin every day.

Step away, enjoy that connection, and come back if you need a little help finding each other again.

Because technology should never become the relationship.

Technology should create the conversation — not become the conversation.