Transforming care together
Maria Mallaband Case Study
Building more moments together
How Our Echo partnered with MMCG to create the award-worthy More… Portal
When Maria Mallaband Care Group (MMCG) set out to further enhance wellbeing, engagement and meaningful moments across its homes, they weren't looking for an off-the-shelf activities platform. They wanted a partner. A partner who would listen. Innovate. Adapt. And continually evolve alongside their teams. That's exactly what the partnership with Our Echo has become.
Today, the bespoke More… Portal, powered by Our Echo, has become the largest deployment of the Our Echo platform to date, supporting 77 homes across multiple regions with personalised digital wellbeing resources that are transforming everyday life for residents, relatives and care teams alike.
A partnership built around listening
Our Echo and MMCG established a collaborative way of working from day one. Following an exceptionally successful pilot, the More… Portal was rolled out in carefully planned phases across multiple regions, ensuring every home received the support needed to maximise engagement.
At the heart of the partnership are fortnightly review meetings, bringing together both organisations to review:
- Engagement statistics
- KPI dashboards
- Best practice across homes
- Resident feedback
- Future developments
- New content opportunities
These meetings have become innovation workshops, allowing ideas from frontline Lifestyle Teams to be transformed into features that benefit every home. As the partnership has grown, so too has the platform.
Together we've introduced:
- Science, History and General Knowledge Competition Quizzes
- New interactive Finish the Phrase games
- Bespoke Singalong sessions
- Enhanced AI-powered personalised activities
- An interactive Community App, allowing visiting families to instantly access activities via a simple QR code, creating more laughter, conversation and meaningful interaction during visits.
- Continually expanding wellbeing resources designed specifically around MMCG's residents and teams.
This is partnership in action.
The More… Radio
As the partnership continued to evolve, so did the opportunities to create even more meaningful experiences. Working closely with Maria Mallaband Care Group, Our Echo developed More… Radio - a completely bespoke digital radio station designed exclusively for their organisation.
Fully branded in the More… identity and integrated with the More… Portal, residents and teams can request shoutouts, celebrate birthdays, share family messages and promote home events, creating memorable moments throughout the day. Combined with beautifully branded retro-inspired radios, More… Radio extends the More… experience beyond activities, creating a consistent, portfolio-wide identity that connects every home through one recognisable brand.
Turning data into better care
The More… Portal isn't just about delivering engaging content. It's also providing MMCG's leadership teams with meaningful insight. Through powerful reporting dashboards and usage analytics, Regional Lifestyle Support Managers can quickly identify homes leading the way, recognise best practice and provide targeted coaching where additional support is needed.
"Our Echo have been amazing to partner with and have offered so much support, variety and excellent content for our residents and teams. As a Regional Lifestyle Manager we now have excellent and easy-to-use reporting, helping us to very quickly identify best practice and homes where support and coaching is required. Alongside Our Echo we have held engagement sessions with groups of homes which have provided us with invaluable insight."
Saving time - creating more moments.
One of the biggest successes of the partnership has been giving Lifestyle Teams something incredibly valuable. More time. Instead of spending hours searching for ideas, activities and resources, coordinators have everything they need in one place, allowing them to focus on what matters most — spending meaningful time with residents.
"Our new More… Portal powered by Our Echo is an amazing product, and one we're incredibly proud of. It is not only saving our Lifestyle Coordinators precious time spent planning, ensuring more time is spent with those living in our homes, but it's creating so many moments of joy, laughter, reminiscence and engagement. The team at Our Echo is so attentive to our needs, allowing us to shape the portal based on feedback from our teams and residents, so it is truly something person-centred to us. It's unlike anything else on the market, and I cannot wait to see what more the future brings through this wonderful partnership."
Real moments, real impact
Across MMCG homes, the impact can be seen every single day. At Knights Court, a simple birthday request became an unforgettable moment, on the e-Radio.
"We would like to extend our sincere thanks for the e-Radio birthday greeting requested through the More… Portal. The greeting was played in both Polish and English, and the inclusion of a specially chosen Polish song was deeply appreciated by the resident, her family and our staff. It added a very special and memorable touch to the day."
At Claremont Manor, residents look forward to the friendly competition every week.
"I really enjoy the weekly quiz on the More… Portal, especially seeing where we rank against the other homes. It's a great social event and we share stories and experiences inspired by the questions."
While care teams value the practical support:
"The weekly printables are a great resource for us. They're easily accessible and perfect for engaging residents in the moment when the Lifestyle Team are unavailable."
Supporting every resident
For Juvi, Lifestyle Coordinator at Amber Court, the portal has fundamentally changed how activities are delivered.
"Having the portal saves so much time. Instead of searching online for ideas, everything is ready to use, allowing us to spend more time engaging with residents."
The flexibility of the platform means every resident can enjoy meaningful experiences, whether in a group setting or one-to-one. Juvi describes creating balloon tennis sessions with family members, encouraging residents to display artwork with pride and using newsletters, quizzes and themed content to spark conversations - even for residents receiving bedside care.
Families have embraced it too. Instead of awkward silences during visits, relatives now use the Community App to enjoy quizzes, puzzles, crosswords and conversations inspired by the More… content, creating shared moments that everyone remembers.
Innovation that never stops
Because the platform continues to evolve alongside MMCG, new ideas quickly become reality.
Senior Regional Director Faye Archer believes this ongoing innovation is what sets the partnership apart.
"The portal has given choice, inclusivity and the ability to make every day person-centred. It's easy to use and fun for both the teams and the residents."
She also highlights the flexibility of the platform.
"The fact we can add and change things to keep up to date with our residents' needs and wishes, offer content in different languages and generate personalised quizzes using AI is a real game changer."
Perhaps most importantly, the technology helps ensure that every resident can participate.
"Within our dementia communities the interactive games really help residents become part of lifestyle. For those moments, dementia isn't the focus — they're simply part of the community, joining in."
When asked what the partnership means to one of her homes, the response was simple:
"It means everything. We can truly put the residents first."
Looking Ahead
The More… Portal continues to grow. New content is added every week. New ideas emerge every fortnight. New developments are shaped directly by feedback from residents, Lifestyle Teams and regional leaders.
Together, Our Echo and MMCG are proving that when technology is built through genuine partnership - not simply supplied - it creates something far more powerful.
It creates More… smiles. More… engagement. More… meaningful moments.
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