YMCA Downslink Group has been a close friend of the agency for a number of years. They are a charity that works to prevent youth homelessness across Sussex and Surrey. Every night, they provide accommodation to more than 750 young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
One of their primary services, Where to Go For, is a vital information portal for 12-25 year olds looking for services in Brighton and Hove. After developing the original site a number of years ago, Bozboz was tasked to update the existing platform, and modernise the website's look and feel, in order to better serve the young people in our community.
YMCA Downslink found their previous Where to Go For CMS less intuitive than others and were keen to move towards a new bespoke and user friendly solution. The charity also felt this was a great opportunity to update the aesthetics of the site, whilst ensuring the website remains accessible and engaging for young people. Custom categorisation, campaign creation and content updates were key requirements of this exciting build.
User experience was foremost. The site needed to be able to scale as more services and campaigns were added, whilst remaining simple for users to find relevant resources and help. The design of the site was driven by the desire to emulate a feeling of inclusiveness, friendliness and approachability, using Brighton’s iconic landmarks as visuals. The UX design also focused upon accessibility, with clear fonts, vibrant imagery and intelligent search.
The website was recrafted using Laravel, giving more scope for future changes and increased day to day control of the content. Working collaboratively with key stakeholders at YMCA, all of the illustrations on the site were created by young people who have used YMCA’s services in the past. This inclusive process ensured that young people had a voice in this project and that the websites’ look and feel resonated with the target audience. We refined the graphic design to encompass Brighton & Hove’s unique vistas.
The inclusion of a prominent crisis button gives one click access to immediate help, which now features on every page. And of course, the site is fully responsive making mobile and tablet use very straightforward.
This collaboration with a fantastic charity allowed us to create a refreshed and vibrant site that delivers advice and much needed support to young people. The CMS enables YMCA Downslink to easily create new campaigns, add more services and better help the community. Empowering YMCA Downslink with updated technology means they can continue to make a significant difference in young people's lives.
Visit Where To Go For.
For more services committed to helping vulnerable young people, please visit e-wellbeing.
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