The Challenge

While we value all our clients regardless of budget, there's something especially rewarding about partnering with organisations making a genuine difference in their communities. Hope Project Leeds is one super inspiring client, a non-profit charity serving the Halton Moor and Osmondthorpe areas of Leeds, primarily focused on supporting residents aged 60+ who may be experiencing loneliness and wellbeing challenges.

Hope's mission centres on empowerment, helping community members make informed choices to live happier, healthier, and more connected lives. When Georgie and her team approached us, they had already invested in comprehensive branding work including colours, typography, and logo design. Our challenge was to bring this identity to life in a responsive, fully-functional website that would serve their unique audience, primarily older adults who might have varying levels of digital literacy and accessibility needs.

Our Approach

From the initial brief, we understood that community connection would be at the heart of this project. The website needed to clearly communicate Hope's services while making it easy for community members, families, and supporters to engage with the website.

We established a collaborative working relationship with weekly check-in milestones to ensure our development stayed aligned with the team's vision. These regular check-ins proved invaluable in maintaining momentum and addressing pain points as they arose throughout the project.

A key functional requirement was the ability to accept online donations, a feature that would transform how Hope could receive financial support within the business. This meant that Ecommerce capabilities were needed, leading us to select Shopify as our chosen platform. This choice eliminated the need for custom payment gateway coding while providing built-in solutions for handling transactions, VAT, and taxes.

Implementation

The project was substantial in scope, encompassing over 20 unique pages including:

• Home and about pages
• Detailed service descriptions
• Volunteering opportunities
• Events calendar
• Job vacancies
• FAQ section
• Contact information
• Donation portal

Given that Hope's primary audience is seniors over 60+, accessibility wasn't just a "nice-to-have" but an essential requirement. As accessibility champions with over a decade of experience building inclusive websites, we implemented:

• High contrast text options
• Adjustable font sizes
• Screen reader compatibility
• Simplified navigation paths
• Alt text for all imagery
• Keyboard-friendly interface elements
• Clear, straightforward language throughout

These features ensured that all visitors could access vital information regardless of their visual, motor, or cognitive abilities.

The Results

The impact of the new website was immediate and significant across all key metrics we tracked. We saw substantial increases in charitable donations coming through the new online portal, demonstrating that the simplified donation process was removing barriers to financial support.

User engagement metrics showed a marked improvement in time spent on the site, indicating that visitors were finding the content more relevant and engaging. The technical improvements we implemented also resulted in dramatically faster page loading speeds, creating a smoother experience particularly important for users with slower internet connections.

Community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many members commenting on how much easier it is to navigate the site and locate important information, whether checking news updates or browsing the weekly events calendar. For an organisation serving primarily older adults, this enhanced usability has been transformative in how they connect with Hope.

Ongoing Relationship

Working with Georgie and the Hope Project team has been tremendously rewarding. We're proud to have contributed to an organisation making such a meaningful difference in their community, particularly for those who might otherwise feel isolated or disconnected.

The project exemplifies our commitment to creating digital experiences that are not only visually appealing but genuinely useful and accessible to all users. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with Hope Project Leeds and supporting their vital community work in the future.