For Hugs
Give with confidence. Leave the choices with them.
Hug&Soul is being built to help you support verified people experiencing hardship, with safe boundaries around how support can be used — while the person receiving it still decides what they need.
Hug&Soul is preparing for pilot testing. Join the waitlist to follow the pilot and help shape a more trusted way to give.
Wanting to help can come with uncertainty.
Sometimes you want to help someone directly but hesitate.
Will my support reach them?
Can I help without deciding everything for them?
Is there a safer, more trusted way to give?
Hug&Soul is being designed around that tension.
More confidence for the person giving.
More choice for the person receiving.
There is a gap between trust and choice.
Give cash
Maximum choice for the person receiving.But as a giver, you may have little confidence about identity, where the support goes or whether any protections are in place.
Buy something for them
More certainty about what your money provides.But you decide what the other person needs.
Hug&Soul
Designed to combine greater confidence with meaningful choice.Verification and safe spending boundaries can help provide reassurance while the Soul decides what they need within those boundaries.
You don’t have to choose between trust and dignity.
How Hug&Soul could work
The first pilot will test a simple way to increase confidence for Hugs while preserving meaningful choice for Souls.
1. A Soul is verified
For the pilot, Hug&Soul plans to work with trusted organisations that can help confirm who is eligible to take part.
2. You choose to give
A Hug can choose to support a verified Soul through Hug&Soul.
3. Safe boundaries apply
The pilot will test spending protections designed to restrict clearly inappropriate or high-risk categories.
4. The Soul chooses what they need
Within those boundaries, the Soul retains meaningful choice over permitted everyday spending.
Trust should come from the system — not control over the person.
Verified participation
The pilot will explore how trusted organisations can help verify people taking part as Souls.
Defined spending boundaries
Support is intended to remain within clearly defined permitted spending rules.
Clear confirmation
You should be able to know that your support has been successfully sent through Hug&Soul.
Responsible design
Hug&Soul is being built around privacy, dignity, safety and accountability from the start.
Confidence without control.
Giving through Hug&Soul should not mean deciding every purchase another person is allowed to make.
their mealtheir toiletriestheir clothestheir journeytheir phone credittheir everyday priorities
The Soul knows their immediate needs better than the person giving.
You choose to help.
They choose what they need within safe boundaries.
Transparency without exposing someone’s private life.
Hug&Soul is being designed so you can have confidence that your support has reached an eligible participant and remains within the system’s permitted boundaries.
That does not mean you need access to someone’s itemised purchases or private daily behaviour.
Support sent
You receive confirmation that your Hug was successfully made.
Participant verified
The person receiving support has taken part through Hug&Soul’s verification process.
Support within permitted boundaries
The system is designed to provide confidence without requiring detailed personal monitoring.
Transparency should prove that Hug&Soul works — not expose the Soul’s private life.
Everyday needs, chosen by the person who needs them.
Hug&Soul is exploring spending protections that could allow normal everyday purchases while restricting clearly inappropriate or high-risk categories.
Food & groceries
Clothing
Personal care
Travel
Phone & connectivity
Household needs
These are examples rather than a final spending list. Exact pilot rules will be published before people take part.
Verification should increase confidence — not create unnecessary barriers.
Hug&Soul plans to begin with a clearly defined pilot group and work with trusted organisations to help verify participation.
A Soul could be someone experiencing homelessness, a parent under financial pressure, an older person struggling with everyday costs, someone who has lost their income, or another person experiencing genuine hardship.
Not everyone who joins the waitlist will automatically qualify for the first pilot.
This isn’t about replacing charities.
Charities, outreach teams and community organisations already have knowledge, relationships and trust that Hug&Soul should not try to recreate.
Hug&Soul is being designed to work alongside them.
Trusted organisations may potentially help with:
- verification
- pilot participation
- safeguarding and support
- helping people understand how Hug&Soul works
We want support intended for Souls to stay focused on Souls.
Hug&Soul is being designed so its sustainability does not depend on unnecessarily reducing the value intended for the person receiving support.
The exact pilot payment and fee structure is still being developed and will be explained clearly before live donations begin.
Prove the model before scaling it.
Hug&Soul is still being built.
The first pilot should answer some basic questions:
Does verification increase donor confidence?
Can spending boundaries work without removing meaningful choice?
Do Souls find the experience respectful and useful?
Can trusted organisations participate without unnecessary operational burden?
Can the model operate safely and sustainably?
We will use what we learn before expanding Hug&Soul further.
Want to help shape a better way to give?
Join the Hug waitlist for pilot updates, research opportunities and early access as Hug&Soul develops.
Joining the waitlist does not commit you to donating.