LiftLink
LiftLink was built by a parent in Belfast who spent too many evenings trying to work out who was driving where, and when, and with whom.
Organising lifts for children's activities usually means the same conversation over and over: "Who's going?" "Can anyone take him?" "I can take three." "I can take them there but can't bring them home." "Who lives near us?"
LiftLink turns that chat into a simple, structured process. It makes it obvious when every child has transport arranged, and stops parents from having to hold the whole plan in their head.
Any activity where parents need to get children to and from the same place: training, matches, club nights, school trips, competitions, parties — anything.
Yes. When you create an event, choose "Me and other adults" under "Who is this for?". Everyone in that event then answers for themselves — no children involved — and LiftLink matches drivers and spare seats in exactly the same way. Handy for lifts to matches, gigs, races or anywhere else a group of adults is heading.
No. Only adults have accounts. Children are added by their parents and are shown to everyone else by first name and surname initial only.
Only members of the same event can see that your child is attending, and they only see a first name and surname initial. Your child's full name and your private preferences are never visible outside your own account.
There is one exception: the driver actually taking your child sees the pick-up (or drop-off) address for that journey, so they know where to collect them. Nobody else ever sees it.
Yes, if you like — it's optional. When you're driving on a date, pick “Keen to watch” or “Just dropping off / collecting”. Nobody else sees it; it only helps LiftLink suggest who might leave their car at home. Each date is separate, and a new date starts with whatever you picked last time.
Choose “Can drive if needed” when you answer. LiftLink first tries to find your child a seat in one of the “We can drive” cars. Only if someone would otherwise be left without a lift are you called on to drive — and then you take your own child plus others. If your car isn't needed, your child simply gets a lift like anyone else and you stay off the road. You still say how many spare seats you have, so the app knows what it can call on.
You're shown the event's name, venue and next date and asked “Would you like to join this event?” first — nothing is shared and you don't join until you tap yes. If you're not signed in, you sign in with your email and then confirm. If you're already a member, the link just takes you to the event.
When you join, you also pick which of your children are in that group. Anyone you untick won't appear on that event's answer form or get reminders for it, and you can change it later on the event page under “Your children in this event”.
When your child needs a lift both ways, tick “Drop-off home is somewhere else” under the address and add the second one. The driver taking them home sees that address; the driver taking them there sees the pick-up. Leave it unticked and one address is used for both, as before.
You stay in control through your transport answer and private driver rules. Offering to drive also lets LiftLink combine your car with another before the 8-hour cutoff. You can see exactly who is driving on the event page and on Lifts before every trip, and if two of you share a child you choose which of you drives each way.
More than 8 hours before the start, cars can be combined and neighbour moves or swaps made automatically: fewer cars first, then proximity. At 8 hours or less, moving between cars needs both drivers' agreement or the organiser. An organiser's rejig holds until someone changes an answer.
Longer journeys are different: before another family's child is added to your car, a pick-up or drop-off more than five miles from your home needs your explicit yes. You'll see “Are you happy to drive this far?” with yes or no thanks on the event page. This applies even before the eight-hour cutoff and to organiser changes. The distance is a straight-line estimate, so the road journey may be longer. Permission is for that child and journey on that date; an address change needs a fresh check.
For a firm rule, open your Family page and add a driver under “Never travels with” for that child. It's absolute: LiftLink will never put your child in that car, in any event, and the organiser can't move them there either. If that driver is the only one with room, your child shows as needing a lift instead. If your child is already in that car on an upcoming date, they're taken out straight away. The list is completely private — the driver and organiser never see it.
LiftLink suggests lifts automatically based on who needs a lift and who has offered spare seats for each direction — to the event and home again.
It starts with who genuinely lives nearest, using the addresses saved privately in the app. If someone hasn't given an address, it falls back to their postcode area. It then looks at the preferences you set: “happy to take” and “rather not take” from both sides. “Happy to take” breaks close calls, but a much nearer neighbour wins. No one is ever told they were not preferred.
“Rather not” is a steer, not a ban — it's used only if there's truly no other seat. If you want a firm rule, use “Never travels with” on your Family page instead (see below).
It also tries to fill a car that is already going rather than create a new one — the driver's own children do not use their spare seats. More than 8 hours before the event, whole cars can be combined if everyone fits, and neighbour moves or swaps made automatically, choosing by proximity. Within 8 hours, existing arrangements stay put unless both drivers agree or the organiser acts.
When someone offers spare seats, that is the agreement — there is no separate step for the driver to confirm. The evening rundown shows the plan; actual driver changes are gathered into the usual safeguarding email round-up.
No. Changes are gathered up and sent as a single round-up, usually within a few minutes, describing how things stand right now rather than every step along the way. So if the organiser moves several lifts around, you get one email at the end, not a trail of messages that contradict each other — and if nothing has really changed for you, no email at all.
LiftLink only emails when it matters: a reminder five days before if you haven't answered, one early-evening email the day before (who's driving whom, pick-up times, and a last nudge if you still haven't answered), an emergency email about four hours before only if a child still has no lift, and a short final rundown about two hours before for drivers whose car has changed. Answering, or someone else answering, doesn't send emails.
Nothing is sent between 10:30pm and 7am; anything that happens overnight arrives in the first round-up after 7am. Two things still come promptly: a suggested car change waiting on your agreement as a driver, and — for safeguarding — a message to parents whenever the person driving their child changes.
Only if you're driving. If you've saved a mobile number on your profile, you'll get one short text about an hour before an event listing who you're taking, with a link to your lifts. There are no other texts, and your number is never shown to anyone.
When you save your number you pick where it's from — UK, Northern Ireland, Ireland and several other countries — and type it the way you normally would. The app works out the international format itself, and it makes a sensible guess from your address so usually there's nothing to change.
No. Save your home address on your profile once and it fills in automatically whenever a lift is needed. If you type a different address for a particular journey, you'll be asked once whether to save or update your home address. Either way, addresses stay private — only the driver taking you or your child ever sees one.
The address matters: LiftLink matches lifts by who genuinely lives nearest, so if you haven't saved one — or you typed it without picking it from the suggestions list — the app will take you to your profile and ask you to sort it before you carry on. Type it in the box and pick it from the list; once it's saved you're straight back to what you were doing.
Yes. Under “Edit event details” there's a “Delete this event” button. It spells out what will be lost — every date, all the answers, lifts and pick-up times, and the invite link — and you have to type the event's name to confirm, so it can't happen by accident. If you only want to stop one date, cancel that date instead.
Yes. Once the plan is built, LiftLink keeps looking for a neater arrangement: a child riding with a driver further away when someone nearer has a spare seat, or two half-empty cars where one would do.
More than eight hours before the start, compatible neighbour moves and swaps happen automatically. Within eight hours, these appear under “Could we tidy this up?”. Nothing moves then unless both drivers agree, and if a suggestion means you would not need to drive at all, you are emailed about it so you can’t miss it. Anything turned down is not offered again for that date.
All data is hosted in the European Union. It is not stored or processed outside the EU.
LiftLink is free for parents to use. If that ever changes, existing users will be told well in advance.
Visit the Privacy & contact page and send a message. We will reply as soon as we can.
Last updated 4 October 2026