In this month’s Client Spotlight we spoke with Jason Paul from Workaid. Learn about Workaid’s inspiring work while seeing how the success of our collaboration gets them 20,000 hits a month on their website.
What Is Your Role at Your Organisation and What do You Enjoy Most About It?
We’re a small team here at Workaid so being adaptable in your role is important. I am mainly the volunteer manager, but I also assist with IT support and running the day-to-day operation of the Charity. Every day is different so it can be challenging, rewarding and frustrating all at the same time.
I’m responsible for managing around 200 volunteers while also making sure the recruiting and onboarding process runs smoothly for them. I really enjoy working with a variety of people and seeing the engagement we get from our volunteers especially as some of them were here at the very beginning. Witnessing their commitment and passion to help our cause is refreshing and helps us to continue our work for the young people in Africa. With the IT side, I act as a support role to keep our PC’s up to date and look after technology and licensing. I’m also the go to person if anyone is stuck or has any questions regarding technology.
Tell Us About Your Organisation and What It Strives For?
Workaid was founded in 1986 off the back of Live Aid, which was to help tackle the famine in Ethiopia. A group of people decided that instead of sending money over why don’t we send over tools to allow young people to learn a new skill, trade or even start their own business and provide them with stability.
We continue this mission today, working in Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. We receive tool donations from people who may simply want to get rid of them because they are moving, downsizing or don’t need them. We accept mostly tools for vocational skills such as carpentery, plumbing, electrical, motor mechanics and sewing machines for tailoring. Once received, we refurbish and package them into kits so we can send them out to young people. We mostly send these kits to community groups, training organisations and schools that have a place for the young people to learn and earn a qualification and ultimately setup their own business. With this system in place we strive to help young people be sustainable and gain the skills they need to have a fulfilled life.
What Challenge Did You Face and Want Framework Digital to Help You With?
Our main goal was to target a younger age group by making our website as engaging as possible. This meant the site needed a refresh through content and a modern, responsive look. Through the content we wanted to change the angle so that it’s more focused on the positive outcomes of our good work rather than the negative stories that you see coming from different countries. We needed our website to reflect that, so a little bit of rebranding, new imagery, Africa focused stories with modern design elements helped us to build a website that we felt really reflected our work in Africa.
Can You Tell us Something That Happened During The Project You Weren’t Expecting?
After we submitted our brief, it was fascinating to see how much things changed from before. It’s hard to know if you’re making the right decision most of the time but during the process you learn a lot, especially how much goes into creating a website such as deciding on colours, themes, imagery and content. These decisions are crucial so that you feel represented in the right way and make the best decisions for your organisation.
Overall, it requires collaboration from everyone on both sides throughout the project and I was happy with Frameworks collaboration and the openness to change and help us make decisions.
Managing the change was a big task as we changed the angle we wanted to focus on. Our audience was used to the organisation being focused on the UK, (which does form a huge part of what we do here supporting our volunteers, helping young people gain confidence and employability skills and offering a workshop for those with learning support needs). Shifting the angle to our work in Africa meant we had to make sure we got it right. Showing what we do in the correct way and making the right decisions was a challenge, but we came to a website that’s brilliant.
If You Were to Recommend Framework Digital to Someone, What Would You Say?
I have recommended Framework to people before so I will repeat what I said to them! I said that it was a brilliant collaboration between the two of us. It was a case of here’s what we would like, here’s an idea, here’s what we want out of it and then Framework went away, came up with the design and different options that we could choose from, which was great. Working with Framework was a smooth, enjoyable process. Its evident that the product is amazing as we get around 20,000 hits a month on the website!
Thank you to Jason for participating in our Client Spotlight! If you would like to get involved in our Client Spotlight next month, email amy@frameworkdigital.com
