Regular readers of globetotting will know that we spent a long time living overseas before moving back to London last year. We were in Australia for three years, India for another three years and then Mexico for five-and-a-half years. We absolutely loved living abroad and feel really privileged to have spent time in so many exciting places. One thing that was difficult, however, was being away from family. We were lucky in that both sets of grandparents visited us at least once a year and we tried to go home annually as well. But, despite chunks of quality time during grandparental visits, there were significant gaps during which we didn’t see our family. Of course, we kept in touch with emails and regular Skype calls but there were times that I did feel that perhaps the grandparents were missing out on some parts of the kids’ lives.
As someone who is always looking for ways to keep the family connected, especially the kids with their grandparents, I was really excited when Neveo asked if I would like to try out their product. Essentially, Neveo is a monthly family album that you create online and which is then printed and posted to whoever you like. It’s billed as a journal for grandparents and, having tried it out, I think it’s a fantastic gift for grannies and grandpas.
The way that it works is simple, you download the free Neveo app to your phone or tablet and then start uploading your favourite photos (you can also upload photos from your desktop). You can add photos all at once or periodically, after a birthday party or a school play for example. Families are allowed either 50 or 100 photos every month depending on which subscription package you choose. Neveo then creates your family journal, looking after all the formatting and printing. As soon as the journal is complete, Neveo sends it to your grandparents by post (they offer worldwide delivery). It’s that easy. Other family members can also upload their own photos, which would be a great way to create a collective family album of all the cousins for example.
Neveo offered me the chance to try out the product and it really was very easy to use. I chose the photos that I wanted, added some captions and left Neveo to do their thing. There were a couple of things that were not immediately obvious to me; I used a working title ‘Grandparents’ for the album but didn’t realise that I couldn’t then change it to something a little more eloquent! Similarly, you are prompted to include captions and while I did this, when we received the journal, I realised that you could actually add a lot more information, up to 200 words in fact (our album has a lot of blank spaces).
Overall, however, the journal looks really good. I used a selection of photos from the last six months but I can see how doing this monthly, would mean that grandparents are involved with what’s going on in the lives of their grandchildren. Plus, the fact that it’s an actual, physical journal (rather than an app or online album to scroll through) is a really nice touch.
Neveo is a subscription service and offer an album of 50 photos every month for a monthly fee of £9.99 and an album of 100 photos for a monthly fee of £14.99. Sign up is free and you can cancel any time. They are currently running a fantastic deal where you get the first album of 50 photos for just £0.99. If, like me, you still haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, then I would highly recommend taking a look at Neveo, I do think it is the perfect present for grandparents
This feature is an advertorial in collaboration with Neveo. All views are my own.
I tried out Neveo too, and was really impressed. I think it’s a lovely service – and so easy to use. I sometimes feel bad that my Mum can’t see all the gazillions of pics I take on my phone and never print out. This really helps us keep in touch.
What a great idea. My American family would love this! Good to know about the captions.. it would be fun to add them as you went along, it would be a bit like a journal then.
Yes, you’re right, I think it’s supposed to be a photo album and journal. It’s a great way to keep families connected!
This is absolute genius!! Do you know how long I spend sending photos to Grandparents on WhatsApp? And then they just sit on the phone. This is such a lovely LOVELY idea.
Isn’t it a great idea? I love that they have something physical to hold and look at. And it’s so easy to use, too!
This is such a good idea and sounds really easy to use too. Would be fab as the kids got older to get them involved in writing the captions.
That’s a great idea about getting the kids involved – I’m sure it would result in some pretty comical captions!