52 lives

52 Lives is an extremely worthy organisation that is run solely by one person, Jaime Thurston. Her idea is simple but brilliant - each week 52 Lives posts a story about someone who needs help on their website and social media, and that call for help is answered by compassionate strangers.

With both public and media interest in 52 lives growing, the organisation had outgrown the capabilities of the website Jaime had created on a generic virtual website platform. She wanted a more professional-looking website to promote the amazing acts of kindness that were being done every week and encourage even more people to get involved. The branding and logo of 52 Lives also needed a refresh.

In response, we built a case-study led website, with the stories of each ‘life’ at its heart. We worked with Jaime to create a more polished brand, including a new logo to ensure recognition. Each ‘life’ page has a clean layout, with clear calls to action following each story. For those who have already been helped, a ‘What We Did’ section makes it easy for visitors to see the real impact that the kindness of strangers can have on someone’s life. We built a custom back office workflow, which made managing enquiries much easier for Jaime as the sole administrator. With social media assets also provided by us, 52 lives now has the digital presence of a much larger organisation.

Shortly after the website launched Jaime was featured on ITV’s Surprise Surprise, which generated a massive surge in users as thousands of people offered to help. Traffic peaked at 160Mb/s and 250 requests per second and the website performed exceptionally on a limited hosting budget. The new design makes it easier than ever for users to get involved and to see how lives have been changed, with the new workflow system enabling Jaime to manage the flood of kind offers she received. We think she's happy with it… "I wouldn't have been able to cope without it!". And we’re really happy we had the chance to lend a hand to such a brilliant cause.