Wheels for Wellbeing (WFW) is an award-winning registered charity supporting disabled people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the benefits of cycling.
They work with thousands of disabled children and adults who face barriers to taking part in any physical activity. Informed by life-changing personal experience of disabled trustees, staff and volunteers, they are determined to show that anyone can enjoy cycling, given the right equipment, support and environment.
Wheels for Wellbeing exists to enhance disabled people’s lives by ensuring that anyone can access the physical, emotional, practical and social benefits of cycling.
After years of giving disabled cyclists a voice to speak out, lobbying government bodies and departments, and forming coalitions with fellow disability advocacy organisations, Director, Isabelle Clement, has recently been awarded an honorary MBE for her “voluntary charitable services”.
We were introduced to Wheels for Wellbeing in 2011, like many fledgling organisations whose expertise is not in technology, they had no formal IT processes or support, and their infrastructure and other technologies were significantly outdated or missing entirely.
Following their formation the charity has seen good growth and as such, their needs and objectives have obviously changed over time. In 2004 Wheels for Wellbeing moved to new premises and so it was the perfect opportunity to address their growing IT requirements:
They received proposals from other suppliers during the tender process; we were successful not only because we demonstrated our ability to meet their requirements but could also offer better value with a bespoke solutions. This became the start of a long-term relationship we have forged with Wheels for Wellbeing, offering more than just IT services, but long-term strategy to maintain and support their technology infrastructure.
Working with charities and offering favourable charitable rates to them, while still working to restricted budgets, is something we are used to and very proud to offer.
It was crucial that there were clear lines of communication between both parties, because liaising with each stakeholder would consume too much time. We assigned a single point of contact for both parties, which proved to be very efficient from a project management perspective. Due to the success of assigning single points of contact, this has remained a constant during the time we have worked with Wheels for Wellbeing. This strategy has also been applied, with equal levels of success in other projects we have undertaken.
To get the ball rolling, upgrading their computer systems was considered the highest priority, and placed first on our list.
We configured and built a set of eight computer systems that have proven to be invaluable investments for Wheels for Wellbeing. The computers were built to a specification to ensure they would be resilient to technological changes and are still used reliably several years later.
We designed, installed and configured their new local office network at their new office premises. This provided them with the key shared file access that had previously not been possible. The trust gained from the successes to date led to gaining explicit trust in recommending on-going hardware and solutions.
With such a large overhaul of their IT infrastructure, it was crucial that we planned in detail solutions that addressed the complexity and accessibility requirements. The existing shared folders providing file sharing solution gave them four main headaches:
Due to the existing configuration of the database, users had to be on site to access and manage the data.
We concluded that developing a web application into a portal would provide the most robust, yet flexible solution. The portal provides the database functionality needed to act as a centralised system. This allows WFW to input and manage all their session data, complete with multi-user editing capabilities, access control and reporting. This would need to be securely accessed by on-site staff and volunteers in their office as well as those working remotely.
Their existing data was stored in a simple Microsoft Access database, accessed remotely via a VPN or through an onsite network. The new solution is accessible through any device via the internet, allowing it to cater to both staff and customers wherever they are.
Wheels for Wellbeing were initially hesitant to store their data in the cloud due to concerns about security. We addressed these concerns by explaining the improved layer of security and monitoring it provided as well as a higher level of access control. We then devised a strategy to provide an outcome that met their specific needs.
It’s important to note that this is the core component of the solution we delivered and has changed considerably. As Wheels for Wellbeing’s objectives and requirements have shifted over time due to unforeseen and world-changing circumstances, which we discuss later.
The first iteration of the WFW portal was built around Drupal’s content management system. This ensured we had the maximum amount of development time to provide the functionality required while also keeping the project on budget, rather than building a custom CMS solution from the beginning.
The solution we delivered allowed user management and access control. This was a huge improvement on their existing system which relied on one user account. It was possible to report on users’ login activity as well as including what information had been accessed, while still being remotely accessible. This provided an accessible solution that could be tightly monitored.
Our primary focus was on developing the workflow and applying business logic to streamline their processes to make them as efficient as possible.
The web application consists of two separate components – the admin portal and the customer portal. The admin portal functions as an area where WFW can control their database, view and edit bookings. Alongside the admin portal is the customer portal, which acts as an interface where customers can book and amend their data.
Throughout the process of designing the portals, we gained a good understanding of the business process, and carefully considered how this workflow could be refined with each revision. Designing a portal that streamlined their workflow gave maximum benefit to the client, increasing productivity while minimising staff costs.
The portals both use a database to hold and provide access to the data within. It was crucial that we understood the data types to structure and migrate the data to the new portal.
During the process of understanding and arranging the data, we greatly improved the structure of the data. This made the data more coherent for us to utilise in the portals and more importantly allowed data types to have relationships. This is a vital feature to understand and accurately create reports, without needing to manually filter the results.
We were successfully able to migrate the data from their existing database and develop new data types.
The admin portal provides a means of collating, organising and reporting on internal data, and was not to be accessed by the public. It is vital for businesses, charities and organisations to adapt to wider changes and in the case of Wheels for Wellbeing, they had to deal with the COVID pandemic.
Between the building of the original web application and the beginning of COVID, Wheels for Wellbeing was able to raise a larger budget to invest further in the web application. Ultimately because of varying limitations with any off-the-shelf CMS, including Drupal – a fully bespoke system was required to provide the level of customisation they desired.
The major change forced upon WFW by COVID was because of social distancing rules, meaning that participants could no longer drop in to sessions and pay in person. To avoid long queues and adhere to social distancing rules, they needed a way to allow the public to pre-book and for WFW to manage attendance.
In response, the solution we built was a flexible user-friendly booking system that allows online bookings to be made.
As we needed to work quickly to enable WFW to operate during COVID, we decided that a phased release of new features would allow them to get up and running quickly.
To achieve this, we worked closely with Wheels for Wellbeing and spent time understanding their new priorities. We helped generate a new statement of work which detailed the required activities and planned a phased release of the new features.
By prioritising activities and rolling out the new features as they became available WFW were able to get back to operating their service once COVID restrictions were lessened.
A fully bespoke online booking platform gave Wheels for Wellbeing more power by allowing them to create and fully manage the sessions they provide. In addition, the data was collected, securely stored and aggregated for reporting.
In the newly revamped version of the portal, we carefully considered how the users would use it to place bookings. To maximise the number of people completing the sign-up process, we carefully assessed the data being collected at each stage.
After successfully signing up to create an account, the account holder can book sessions for themself, or on behalf of someone else. Alternatively, an organisation may need to register different details throughout the process to sign their members up to sessions. During the organisation sign up process, the needs and requirements are provided. These are required to manually assess if the service is suitable for their members.
By understanding ‘why’ the manual checks are necessary, we were able to streamline the flow and user journey creating a frictionless experience.
An account holder can book a cyclist / cyclists on to the desired session.
The collection of information on the cyclist is vital to ensure the best possible service is provided. Wheels for Wellbeing need to know about any special requirements of the cyclist. These may be physical disabilities that assist them in the allocation of equipment, or mental health problems the cyclist experiences to help them provide the required assistance. This data is stored in a centralised database and can be recalled for booking the cyclist on future sessions without the need to re-input all the information.
The online booking platform was a huge success. It not only checked all the boxes for the objectives but added value in several other areas. Not only were the majority of bookings made online, but when people phone up the booking was completed through the same system. This ensured the accuracy of the data and no need to double enter information.
As the booking system now took the payment as part of the booking process, Wheels for Wellbeing did not have to worry about people turning up with no cash, or promising to pay the next week. Additionally, Wheels for Wellbeing did not need to collect cash at the start of the sessions, reducing admin time and attendance monitoring.
One of the key components of the web application is the ability to aggregate data and provide reports. These reports are essential to provide funders details on the use of their services and secure future funding.
With the data being collected through the system, the accuracy of the data is more precise due to the removal of potential human-error.
A final noteworthy piece of work we have carried out is an integration between the booking platform and the website. We created a WordPress plugin that fetches the data from the portal in real-time to display on the website. For deployment, the website manager simply installed the plugin and drops the shortcode into the page for a filterable list of available sessions.
When users click on the sessions, they wish to book a cyclist on to, they are seamlessly transported to the booking platform to complete their booking.
After over a decade of working with Wheels for Wellbeing, we have seen several members of staff change at their end. Due to the successful allocation of resources and maintaining a single point of contact throughout the partnership, effective processes for providing and handling feedback have been established.
These processes help prioritise, plan and deliver the on-going support to the high levels that both Wheels for Wellbeing and ourself expect. This ensures that key milestones were, are and will be achieved. It also helps manage the Statement of Work, opening up new developments when funds are available.
With our office in an area with strong transport links, meeting in person at Wheels for Wellbeing’s London office was never an issue. During COVID – just like everyone else – we learned to do it all remote. With the efficiencies brought about by online meetings, most of our meetings have since been online, but we’re always happy to accommodate visits to our office in Buckingham.
It’s vital to understand how data is collected and stored. We stepped in to help Wheels for Wellbeing understand GDPR. We assisted them with the creation of the data retention policies.
We make it a priority to understand the life cycle of data with every project we undertake. Collecting data through the web application and later the booking system meant that it was no longer an operational requirement to anonymise the data.
The data and access to the data is audited, logged and tiered. This ensures that we know who has access and who has accessed the data stored.
As with any product, internal QA (Quality Assurance) is carried out to ensure that our developments are bug free and work as expected.
The system is designed to be intuitive and easy for anybody to use. An early objective was to remove any barriers and handle resistance to adopting the new system. This meant working with Wheels for Wellbeing to understand any difficulties their team encountered and remedying these problems.
A close group of internal parents conducted User Acceptance Training (UAT) and minor adjustments were made based on the feedback to streamline the performance.
The really big win for this project is that, at the time of writing this, over 12,000 disabled cyclists have received the opportunity to cycle, where this was previously not a possibility.
Wheels for Wellbeing are now totally cashless, which means they spend less time collecting, counting, banking cash and focus on activities that add more value to the charity.
For over a decade we have been proud to provide 99.99% uptime to all their systems through all the revisions and deployments we have carried out.
A bonus by bringing everything into a cloud-based system is that there are now zero paper records. This ensures the data records are secure and has a positive environmental impact for the charity.
Weaving Webs Limited is a company registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 03739247.
Registered office: Weaving Webs Ltd, The Den, Bridge Street, Buckingham, MK18 1EL. VAT reg no: 277 6535 60
