People started to ask for more help when there was not enough money for food – a help app started to limit requests

The Neighbourhood Watch app has long limited the number of requests for help that can benefit financially.

Requests for financial assistance have increased on social media. In particular, there are more requests for food than before. For example, the cuts to families with children are reflected in a Facebook group set up by mothers in Kuopio, which has over 3 000 members.

The Commussa restriction applies to all requests for assistance that can be of financial benefit. You may not ask for money at all on Commu. The user must be strongly authenticated, for example with a bank account.

– We don’t want Commu to be known just as a food aid platform, because that’s not what it’s made for,” Nygren says.

Nygren is one of the founders of the company. He believes two requests for help per month to an acute in distress. The company also guides users through various organizations.

A significant increase in food aid requests was noted in commu in late 2022. At that time, the company reacted to the situation by publishing a separate food aid theme in the application. At the end of the year, it organized events that distributed food bags and meals.

In 2023, the application had a maximum of 300 food aid requests in one month. At the turn of 2023-2024, there were 500 of them and 1,000 at the turn of last year. Requests will be concentrated in the biggest locations.

Joensuu stands out as an active city

The neighboring application, Commp, has nearly 100,000 registered users. The application won the Circular Economy Prize in 2022, and at that time there were 12,000 users – Most of the neighbors are interested in residents in Pirkanmaa and Uusimaa. Lively communities include Hämeenlinna, Jyväskylä, Turku, Lahti, Mikkeli and Joensuu.

– Joensuu has been an interesting place in the sense that using the application for a small city has been really active, says Nygren.

The application also cooperates with the municipalities. In addition to marketing cooperation, the municipality can make local news and, for example, queries for residents. Data analysis can, for example, monitor certain requests for help.