Launchpad – website development

Category: Communications, Public Relations

We worked on the development and launch of a new website for national veterans’ charity Launchpad.

We support them with national and regional PR and comms and we helped to redesign and relaunch their website.

Launchpad is the largest residential charity for veterans in the north of England. They provide accommodation and targeted support, with the assistance of specialist providers, to help homeless veterans stabilise their lives and make a successful transition from military to civilian life.

Since 2013, the charity has supported over 575 homeless and unemployed veterans at its houses in Newcastle, Durham and Liverpool. Last year, 95% of the formerly homeless veterans they supported moved on to new accommodation: 58% moved on to live independently, whilst 37% still required some support with their recovery.

For most veterans and referral agencies, the website is considered as one of the first points of contact and an important resource for people and organisations to find out more information about the charity and how they can support them via donations, fundraising and volunteering.

We facilitated the full production of the new site providing all tcopy, co-ordinating imagery and provided advice on the general design, look and feel. We engaged with partners, staff and residents to gain their feedback and ideas of what experience they would like to have from the website.

The new site has been designed to provide visitors with better functionality and to quickly and easily navigate and access the information they are looking for. This is particularly important, especially for the veterans themselves if they apply to live in one of the houses.

What is also heart-warming is all the individual stories of veterans who have been/are living in one of the houses. Their stories are poignant, highlighting their military background, putting their lives on the line to fight for our country and telling us their story and journey of how and why they found Launchpad. More importantly, it highlights how they have benefited from the support that has been provided and hopefully, resonates with other homeless veterans who could benefit from this fantastic charity.