When leading UK charity, The Parenting Project, needed support to redevelop its website to better meet the needs of service users, Arden & GEM’s IT service stepped in to volunteer its expertise and capability. The CSU evaluated the options available to Parenting Project and guided them through the development journey.
Parenting Project now has a redeveloped, fit for purpose website built on the most appropriate technology which provides families with essential mental health and wellbeing information and signposting to support.
The challenge
The Parenting Project is a leading UK registered charity supporting family mental health and wellbeing. Since 2008 they have worked alongside families, providing support, pathways and tools to help them with their challenges and enable them to improve their own mental health and wellbeing.
With services including family wellbeing support, counselling, parent mentoring and groups, the charity’s website is an essential tool for providing families with information, resources and signposting as well as acting as a conduit for donations, volunteers and fundraising.
To maximise their online impact, improve user experience and better align content to the services they were offering, The Parenting Project needed to redevelop their website. But to achieve this, the charity needed specialist support to help them evaluate the options available, understand the technology and realise their website ambitions.
With a strong commitment to contributing to the social and economic sustainability of the communities it serves, when Arden & GEM heard about the digital challenges facing The Parenting Project it volunteered its support.
Our approach
Our IT service works alongside a range of health and care clients to design and deliver digital solutions including bespoke web developments. The service’s approach with Parenting Project was to listen and understand what they were looking to achieve and the underlying drivers.
An evaluation of the approaches and options available was undertaken by:
- Reviewing industry best practice
- Looking at approaches similar size organisations had taken
- Conducting an audit of the technologies that were currently in use
- Analysing the performance and compliance of their existing site.
"We understand technology can appear complex, confusing or daunting, so we used our subject matter experts to remove the barriers. This helped build The Parenting Project’s understanding and awareness in an area which isn’t their core business."
Chris Reynolds, Head of Systems Development and Application Services at NHS Arden & GEM CSU
This work was reflected to The Parenting Project leadership team, translating the technical to non-technical and empowering them to make an informed decision with a clear understanding of the benefits, risk, issues and limitations. Once a development solution was agreed, Arden & GEM created, configured and secured the hosting environment and then supported them in developing and testing a new site.
The service used its experience to optimise the site and provide Parenting Project with the confidence that the solution would work, alongside working with the incumbent supplier to ensure a seamless transition to the new provider.
The outcomes
As a result of the specialist support provided by Arden & GEM’s IT service, The Parenting Project now has a redeveloped, fit for purpose website built on the most appropriate technology and fully aligned to their offer and ambitions.
As well as helping the charity to engage the right development partner, the CSU continues to provide ongoing website advice and guidance. The Parenting Project was so pleased with the support provided that they asked Arden & GEM to work with them on a subsequent community project to provide coaching and training that prioritises mental and emotional wellbeing, The Growth Pool, where the CSU will be supporting them in getting the most from the technology stack they use.
"Arden & GEM has been fantastic to work with. From consulting with us on our choice of platform, right through to the site's launch and ongoing updates, Arden & GEM has taken the time to listen and provide advice and support that is tailored to our needs."
Sarah Slater, Business Development Manager at The Parenting Project