A new website for Footsteps 2000 Ltd, a Drug and Alcohol abuse charity in Warrington, helps them continue to support people during Covid.
The charity needed help in a couple of areas, because of Covid restrictions the face to face form filling and referrals process were limited. Office access and the usual administration process was restricted too and they were concerned about not helping as many people in need.
Catchy web design, a local website designer in Warrington, was approached by the charity for help and responded quickly building the interactive website within a few weeks.
We put together a clean, fresh and modern website that it suitable for all website users. Helping source images and install a cookies & privacy policy to meet GDPR compliance.
We focused our website design and development on the smartphone version, knowing that the majority of people visiting and using this website would do so on a mobile phone. The layout encourages scrolling, with an easy to navigate menu option on the top right and thumb friendly web-forms.
We identified two areas that could be solved with an online solution.
1. Interactive support score sheet
Originally a paper form with points that when added up gave a score and indication of the level of support needed.
Downloading, emailing or even posting the form and them waiting for a reply takes time, which often resulted in people changing their minds about receiving support. The extra delays caused by Covid restrictions made it even more difficult for the charity to engage with people needing support.
This format was flawed even before the pandemic restrictions, because people could see the higher weighted scores for certain questions and adjust their answer accordingly. Without the points for each question on show and only a final score provided after the form was completed encouraged much more honest answers.
The interactive web-form (How’s your wellbeing? - https://www.footstepsforfamilies.org.uk/) is available for people 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, meaning more people have access to support.
The live interactive score makes it easier for people to identify if they or a family member needs help with their drug or alcohol addiction and confidence to reach out for support, which they can do online at that moment.
Making it easier for people to understand if they or a family member needs support and then reach out for that support is invaluable to the support efforts by Footsteps 2000 Ltd.
2. Content web-forms group specific
Family Support, User Support and Young People Support; separated making it easier for people to approach the charity for help.
By organising and arranging the contact forms in a way that people can quickly and easily identify the best way for them to receive support, encourages more people to reach out to Footsteps for help and allowing the charity to intervene sooner.
Each group will need different types of support and sometimes family members need to escape abusive relationships, which by the time they ask for help is desperately needed.
This planned and organised online approach has made the whole process faster, easier and more accurate for all involved.
Professional Referral, helping professionals refer families or users for support.
People or organisations who identify a user or family in need of support, can contact Footsteps using a specific web-form for the type of support needed or just contact the charity using the page web-form.
https://www.footstepsforfamilies.org.uk/professional-referral
Ultimately teaming up with a local website designer in Warrington, who had the vision and ability help them take advantage of the available technology to reduce their administration time and at the same time help even more people; helped achieve this success.
The Covid pandemic put extra pressure on the charity Footsteps 2000 Ltd, with lock down directly causing people to need more support and at the same time restricting the team in their efforts to support. Catchy web design is very proud that we have been able to provide a cost effective and long term solution for the charity.