Donna John - Director, Ignite Trust

Ignite Trust is a charity that works with young people aged 12-25 to help them re-engage with education, find employment, or move on from anti-social behaviour, gang involvement and exploitative relationships. Based in Harrow the charity has had a website with Church Pages since 2016.

The charity changed its name in 2020 and decided that they wanted a more bespoke website that was designed more for the 12-25 demographic. With this in mind we worked closely with the team at Ignite to design a site that worked well on mobile devices, included video content, and reflected their new branding.

How the website was designed and built

Ignite spent some time determining the aims and objectives of the website, and fine tuning their content so that it met the needs of its clients. To this end copy was removed and video content added. The opening video is particularly strong and engaging, and gives web visitors a good idea of what Ignite is about.

The website was also reviewed by a number of young people to evaluate their response to the site, and amends made accordingly.

The finished website has the following features:

• A responsive website that is engaging.
• Calls to action that aid navigation.
• Strong video content to improve visitor interaction.
• A Twitter feed on the home page so that the site was kept up to date
• Customised contact forms.
• A simple to edit content managed website that the Ignite team can keep updated themselves.

What else did Church Pages do?

We installed a Secure Certificate and updated all the optimisation tags. 

Conclusion

The team at Church Pages were pleased to help Ignite Youth refresh the look of their website and hope that it will be a blessing to them.

The new Ignite website can be viewed here. 

The whole team really commit to creating a beautiful and functioning website, and are such a pleasure to work with! The way they take the time to listen to what is functionally needed but also the heart behind it is incredible, and has meant that the website reflects what Jesus Ministry is all about.

We are so excited to get to see ‘Jesus Ministry’ grow and are so thankful that the website will help this now."

Anna Norburn - Administrator, Jesus Ministry

Jesus Ministries came about after a few pastors in the UK began to experience a fresh work of the Spirit that enabled them to hear God more accurately, have greater confidence in their identity and authority in Christ, and become more aware to the invisible spirt realm.

With a growing number of churches wanting to develop more deeply biblical, supernatural ways of living life and expressing the kingdom, Jesus Ministry evolved into a partnering and teaching resource.

How the website was designed and built

We created the website by working closely with the Jesus Ministry team. We discussed their vision for the website to determine how to design and build the website that would grow as the more churches engage with the teaching. It was essential that the site:

• enabled courses to be booked,
• participating churches to be found,
• talks could be heard, and
• sermons from YouTube could be accessed
• ability to purchase courses.

Fortunately Jesus Ministry provided all the images and copy for the proposed site quickly, and gave us the information on churches that are already participating in the ministry. Knowing what was required from the website we were able to use the logo, and the tone of the images, to set the heart of the design. The whole Church Pages team worked together to create not only the design, but also to ensure that the site had the functionality that was needed.

The finished website has the following features:

• A strongly branded website that works on all devices.
• An easy to navigate site that enables courses to be booked.
• A directory that helps web visitors to find a church that participates in Jesus Ministry
• Links to teaching videos on YouTube.
• An accessed controlled area to purchase the Living Free course.

The site was finished within the timescale set and we were able to help Jesus Ministry to get the site live before their major conference in November 2018.

What else did Church Pages do?

To help Jesus Ministry to be found online we added in optimisation tags for the website and gave training on how this can be done on a Church Pages website. We also filled in the structure data settings for Google and added in web stats so that the church could see the number of visitors to their site, and what actions they took when they got there.

How did the website switch from the old one to the new Church Pages website?

We had management of the Jesus Ministry domain so putting the site live was simple.

Conclusion

The team at Church Pages enjoyed helping Jesus Ministry launch their new website and were pleased with the final result.

The new Jesus Ministry website can be viewed here.

Lizzie Ashley, Project Leader, The Lighthouse Project Crawley

From time to time Church Pages are approached by Christian charities to have help with their online presence. The Lighthouse Project Crawley knew of us through one of their trustees, Steve Burston, who is Vicar at St. John's Crawley. St John's have a website with us, and Steve thought that we might be able to help Lighthouse revamp their site.

How the website was designed and built

The Lighthouse Project is an ecumenical Christian Charity that exists to serve the schools of Crawley whilst sharing the Christian faith and values. The project is led by a team of staff and volunteers, and we were particularly impressed with their vision and commitment to ensure that every child and young person in Crawley will hear about the Christian faith and have the opportunity to explore how it could impact their own life.

The Lighthouse Project wanted a website that was responsive, contemporary, quick to load, easy to navigate, and simple to update. Lizzie Ashley, Project Leader, was very clear as to what she wanted for the website, which helped us to design a site that met her needs. As we worked with her we realised that we needed to create a new website template design, that was an extension of the Boaz template, but incorporated more blocks to add in further information. So the Isaiah template was birthed, and will be available soon.

The finished website benefits from:

• A contemporary responsive website that is professional and engaging.
• A website that loads quick and is easy to navigate.
• A website that can be managed in-house by The Lighthouse Project Crawley.
• A website that has accessed controlled areas for both schools and staff and volunteers.
• Support at the end of the phone when required.

What else did Church Pages do?

We optimised the site and embedded YouTube videos where required.

How did the website go live?

We took over the management of the domain, but worked closely with Lighthouse's email support service to ensure that their email service was not disrupted during the transition.

Conclusion

This project is very close to our hearts here at Church Pages as we are committed to seeing children and young people hearing the Gospel at school. This is not always easy to achieve, and it is so encouraging seeing the success and commitment of The Lighthouse Project to reach the children in their community with The Message that transforms lives.

The Lighthouse Project Crawley's website can be viewed here.

Carwyn Hill, co-founder, Hope Health Action

Hope Health Action (HHA) is a Christian NGO passionate about providing life-saving health and disability care for the world’s most vulnerable, without any discrimination. The charity was birthed following Carwyn's response to a post-it note left on a notice board at a Christian conference. The note was written by the then President of The Baptist Convention of Haiti (Pastor Gedeon), who was in need of a bed having travelled to the UK and underestimated the cost of accommodation. Pastor Gedeon accepted Carwyn’s invitation and the two quickly connected. Pastor Gedeon subsequently invited Carwyn and two friends, Jonnie Horner and Rodney Wilson, to Haiti. Whilst there they were touched by the tragic and completely unnecessary death of an 11-year-old girl called Julia, who died simply due to a lack of basic health care. Feeling challenged by God at the injustice of what they’d witnessed they decided to start HHA.

Since that time HHA has provided health care for over 20,000 patients in Haiti, and provided life-saving and life-transforming care for people with disabilities in Haiti and Uganda.

How the website was designed and built?

HHA had a very specific brief with clear idea of the user journey that they wanted and the functionality that was needed. The site therefore sat better as a bespoke website, and fortunately Church Pages' software is ideally placed to create this type of site.

We were very blessed to be able to work alongside Michael Goldsmith, the Haiti/US Country Director, who is an accomplished designer. Working collaboratively the site evolved, and once the UK site was completed then we were able to build the US HHA website.

The finished websites benefit from:

• Branded, clean, responsive design that has strong customer engagement.
• Excellent user-experience with easy navigation, a sticky nav, and a highly functional search.
• The ability to copy content quickly from one site to another
• An simple to use CMS which means that HHA can edit and manage the site themselves.
• Support at the end of the phone when required.

What else did Church Pages do?

We optimised the site and provided training on how to use the software.

How did the website go live?

We worked with Michael to help him with the domain changes.

Conclusion

We were very pleased with the finished websites and have felt privileged to be able to continue to support HHA in their amazing work amongst the poorest and most vulnerable of the world.

Hope Health Action's websites can be viewed here.

"Thank you SO much."

Claire Starr (co-ordinator of The Coach House, Kilmuir Trust)

The Coach House, Kilmuir is a small, homely retreat house that offers a space for people to just be and rest. It is a place to re-balance and consider life, and is based the Trust was looking for a new website that they could manage themselves.

How the website was designed and built

The Coach House were very keen to have a website that they could update themselves. They also wanted to work with a company that was there to support them with the site if they needed help. Not having much IT experience there was a little bit of anxiety as to how the website would work, but we were able to work with Claire and her team to create a site that reflected the serenity that is encountered at The Coach House.

We worked closely with Claire to create the site that she had envisaged, and she was happy to use the Isaiah template for the build of the website. Fortunately Claire is an outstanding photographer and so we had a wealth of photographs to choose from that would work responsively.

. The finished website benefits from the following:

• A visually impactful home page that reflects the ethos of The Coach House.
• Clear navigation via strong imagery to improve user-experience.
• The ability for information pages to be added as necessary.
• The ability for individuals to sign up for courses.

We worked closely with The Coach House team to create the site and provide them with training so that they could manage the site easily themselves.

What else did Church Pages do?

We provided an event calendar so that the various retreats could be added in and optimised the site. We also installed a Secure Certificate onto the site.

How did the website switch from the old one to the new Church Pages website?

The site's A record and CNAME were switched to point to the new site so that the trust could maintain their email at their existing address.

Conclusion

The Church Pages team were very pleased to be able to work with Claire and her team to create such a beautiful site. Even though Claire felt very computer illiterate she found using Church Pages' software unbelievably easy, which came as a pleasant surprise!

The new Coach House, Kilmuir website can be viewed here.

"It was so wonderful to work with them on this project and we’ve been blown away by all that they’ve done. Their technical expertise, the way they’ve worked with our visual identity, their understanding of our brief and the quality of the website they’ve produced is just outstanding, we couldn’t have asked for anything more, or for such lovely, generous hearted people to work with. We look forward to reaching new audiences and inviting people to #Giveitago with the website as an initial point of connection. Thank you so much.!'"

Chris Priddy, Sportily's Chief Operating Officer

Church Pages spoke with Chris Priddy at the very start of the launch of the Church Pages' Initiative. He was keen to work with us, but it wasn't until he started with Sportily that this opportunity afforded itself!

How the website was designed and built

Sportily is a sports ministry charity that is creating a network of sport and faith groups across Gloucestershire. The charity's heart is to see fresh expressions of church planted among children and young people, with sport, physical activity and well-being at their heart.

Backed by the Diocese of Gloucester the charity has been able to grow significantly in its reach and vision, and now has a team of workers (both paid and voluntary) delivering a wide range of sport and activity sessions in multiple locations

Sportily was born in October 2021, and approached Church Pages with a brief to create a website that embodied its key messages of having fun, making friends and joining in, and which also made the most of the bold graphics and visuals that had been created as its brand.

The vision that Sportily had as a charity resonated with the Church Pages team and we were excited to be able to work on this project.

Church Pages understood that the website's primary audience would be parents and guardians wishing to find activities for their children in Gloucestershire.

We were blessed by being given a clear brief, and an excellent brand document that naturally led to the design and hierarchy of website. The site was fully bespoke and incorporated CSS animation to add interest and engagement with the website. Church Pages also have a superb team of developers who are normally found working on API's for Amazon Vendor's. They worked alongside our Creative Director to ensure that there was a seamless integration to Sportily's booking system provider so that events were brought onto the each location's page and could be booked easily within the site.

The finished website benefits from:

• A user-friendly, responsive website that strongly reflects the charity's branding.
• A website that integrates with the BookWhen booking app.
• A website that can grow as the charity extends its reach.
• Support at the end of the phone when required.

What else did Church Pages do?

We optimised the site and worked closely with BookWhen to ensure that the site remained useable as Sportily added more events.

How did the website go live?

We became the name server for the domain, but managed the MX and TXT records.

Conclusion

We thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of this project. The design needed to be engaging and meet the brand guidelines. Working with BookWhen enabled us to create a site that works well on desk top and mobile. Both Church Pages and Sportily were very pleased with the end result.

Sportily's website can be viewed here.

Always ready to offer advice and guidance which has resulted in an outstanding website creation which you have significantly contributed to doing.

I would highly recommend all those that are considering using Church Pages."

Honor Pacey (Chair of The Ekins Trust)

The Ekins Trust are a Christian charity providing educational grants to support Christian young people in the area of the Borough of Northampton.

Founded in 1704 by Hervey and Elizabeth Ekins in memory of their 15 year old daughter, Gertrude. The Ekins charity was based on thinking way ahead of its time . They believed that education was necessary for the poor, even girls and with their strong Christian ethos the Charity aimed to promote education amongst the young people in hardship. The work of this small charity continues to bless local young church members who need financial help towards their education.

How the website was designed and built

The Ekins Trust did not have a website, but trusted the Team at Church Pages to create the site from scratch. We worked with the Charity helping them to choose a domain, which we purchased on their behalf. Then we created a logo, chose colours for the website along with a font that was appropriate for the demographic and reflected the Charity's ethos.

We also created the copy on the website from the information provided by the Charity and created the Grant Application Forms.

The Ekins Trust chose the Gideon Template for its site, but we felt that it needed something more bespoke. We knew that the Charity provided help for young people that enabled them to further their educational potential. We learned of youngsters being given a musical instrument that they really wanted to learn, but couldn't afford. Also we heard about how The Ekins Trust helped local children who because of difficult circumstances couldn't afford a computer. It was heart warming to listen to real-life stories of change that had only been possible due to the tragic death of an only child so many years previously. What an amazing couple the Ekins were to consider how they could help others despite their loss.

The finished website benefits from the following:

• A strongly designed home page that works well for the Charity's demographic.
• Clear navigation so that visitors can find the information that they need.
• The ability for information pages to be added as necessary.
• The ability for individuals to apply for the appropriate grant.
• Easy to edit pages that can be added to when needed.

Conclusion

The Church Pages team were very pleased to be able to help The Ekins Trust and hope that the website in turn will be able to help young people.

The Ekins Trust website can be viewed here.

They worked really closely with us throughout the process and we absolutely love our site - it has really captured who we are. It's wonderful to be able to point our referral agencies, church partners and clients to such a high quality website for the ministry.

Thank you so much!"

Debs Peyton (CEO of Silver Cord)

Silver Cord is a Christian charity that came out of a love for older people, and a desire to see them cherished by society. The charity has a vision to see "intergenerational communities in which all ages feel equally welcomed, valued and recognised for their unique contributions', and believe that this is best facilitated through the local church.

How the website was designed and built

Silver Cord did not have a website, but Debs Peyton (formally Fidler) did have a logo that she had felt inspired to create at the beginning of the Charity's journey. and a domain. We used her logo as the starting point of the design, and by listening to Deb's heart we were able to design a website that reflected the strong ethos and values that she holds regarding older people.

Debs was happy to be guided on what type of images she needed to reflect what the charity was trying to achieve, and she was also able to provide copy for the site. We worked closely with Debs to make sure that the website told Silver Cord's story, and took time to understand the befriending process as well as how churches could play their role. 

Silver Cord chose the Isaiah Template for its site because of its versatility. We chose bright and engaging colours that complemented the silver and blue of the logo, and used a Google font that we thought worked well for the demographic.

The finished website benefits from the following:

• A strongly designed home page that has clear navigation.
• A clear sense of identity that has longevity designed into it.
• Clear calls to action for those wishing to access the service.
• Easy to use content manager that means Debs and her team can keep the site current and relevant/

Conclusion

The Church Pages team were very pleased to be able to assist Silver Cord and trust that the charity will be able to respond to the loneliness so prevalent amongst the older generation.

Silver Cord website can be viewed here.

We also felt strongly about this issue, and wanted to address it, but there never seemed to be enough time to do it. So when we were introduced to Hoi Fei it felt like a real blessing as the website was able to become a reality.

The aim of the Disability Freedom site is to provide an easy to search directory that offers information about accessible and inclusive activities, classes, clubs and holiday accommodation for children with disabilities. Blessed by Hoi Fei's experience, we were able to create a user-journey that reflects the needs of the demographic.

How the website was designed and built

As a parent of a child with learning needs Hoi Fei was able to direct us on what needed to be achieved. From her brief we were able to design and build the site, focusing on the the user journey so that information could be quickly found. We designed the logo and branding for the website, and sourced appropriate video scenes that reflect the Disability Freedom's target audience.

Church Page's Directory Module enables the whole of the UK to be searched for inclusive classes and groups, and our attribute filter enables the user to filter the activities by:

• Mainstream or Special
• Type of activity
• Disability catered for
• Accessibility
• Parking
• Childcare and Respite, and
• Age.

Once the site became highly populated we divided the UK into different areas to improve usability.

Visitors to the site are also able to suggest a listing, and each listing has comprehensive information included in it. 

The finished website benefits from:

• A contemporary responsive website that is strongly branded and reflects the demographic.
• An easy to navigate website that enables inclusive activities to be found quickly..
• A website that is easy to manage.

What else did Church Pages do?

We optimised the site and added in Disability Freedom's Instagram feed.

How did the website go live?

As we had purchased the domain, putting the site live was simple.

Conclusion

It was such a privilege to be able to work on this project. Hoi Fei has been tireless in her work on populating the site and we are pleased with the warm response it has received.

The Disability Freedom website can be viewed here.

Darren and Shan, The Cross Keys Llanfyllin

The Cross Keys, Llanfyllin is an all-inclusive community hub at the heart of Llanfyllin, which has been set up to encourage and serve those in their community.

How the website was designed and built

We met Darren and Shan at the beginning of their vision to have a community hub in the heart of Llanfyllin. It is rare to find such passion and commitment to provide not only support and commitment to their local area, but wanting their community to encounter the Gospel through hospitality and support. So when The Cross Keys, an historic pub in the heart of Llanfyllin, was purchased we offered to help Darren and Shan create a website that reflected their heart and ethos.

It was important too that as Llanfyllin has a strong Welsh speaking community that the site was in Welsh in parts.

Seeing God at work in a project is always exciting! It helped us to create a site that Darren could keep up to date himself, and the website has grown considerably since it was launched. Featuring the pub on the home page seemed essential, as this is where everything takes place. Also having a photo of a group enjoying food together on the home page was also important as it sets the tone of the site with hospitality being a key tenet.

.The finished website benefits from the following:

• A welcoming and friendly home page that reflects the heart of The Cross Keys.
• Clear calls to action so that users can find appropriate information quickly.
• The ability for the site can be changed easily.

We worked with Darren and Shan to ensure that the site was how they wanted it to be. We then provided training so that  Darren could make changes himself.

What else did Church Pages do?

We added a Secure Certificate, and assured the team at Cross Keys that we were there to help them if they needed us.

Conclusion

It was a real pleasure to create this website having heard the vision for The Cross Keys, Llanfyllin. It is such a friendly looking site, and reflects the heart of the community hub viz. hospitality and support.

You can see the The Cross Keys, Llanfyllin's website here.

If you would like us to help you provide a new look to your church website, of if you are a Christian charity wanting a new site then please do not hesitate to contact us.

Ismael Luzia, O Isma Pinta

We are blessed in the UK to have amazing resources to help our kids learn about the Bible. However, if you live in Portugal trying to find animated material in European Portuguese is virtually impossible.

O Isma Pinta was set up to meet that need. After running Sunday School and kids' bible camps in Portugual it became clear to the founder of O Isma Pinta, Ismael Luzia, that there was a real vacuum in biblical animated resources. "There were plenty of resources in Brazilian Portuguese, but I wanted to create something that my kids could enjoy in their native Portuguese to help them to learn more about God's word."

Being a skilled animator, and encouraged by his wife, O Isma Pinta came into being. "It really is a family mission because my wife and kids are so involved, writing and performing each film's kid song with me."

How the website was designed and built

Ismael was very clear from the beginning what he wanted the website to look like and sent through the various assets so that we could create both an English and Portuguese website. 

The great thing about Church Pages' software is that it is so flexible and so we were able to create a bespoke site that gave visitors a good idea of what O Isma Pinta is about.

The finished websites benefit from:

• A highly engaging animated website that is responsive.
• The ability to switch sites easily.
• A website to promote the project.

How did the website go live?

Once Ismael was happy we gave him all the domain settings that were needed to make the site live.

Conclusion

Ismael was were very happy with the websites as Church Pages had created the websites he had wanted.

You can  O Isma Pinta website here. 

We are blessed in the UK to have amazing resources to help our kids learn about the Bible. However, if you live in Portugal trying to find animated material in European Portuguese is virtually impossible.

O Isma Pinta was set up to meet that need. After running Sunday School and kids' bible camps in Portugual it became clear to the founder of O Isma Pinta, Ismael Luzia,' that there was a real vacuum in biblical animated resources. "There were plenty of resources in Brazilian Portuguese, but I wanted to create something that my kids could enjoy in their native Portuguese to help them to learn more about God's word."

Being a skilled animator, and encouraged by his wife, O Isma Pinta came into being. "It really is a family mission because my wife and kids are so involved, writing and performing each film's kid song with me.

How Did Church Pages Help?

The Church Pages' Initiative is not just about supporting churches to outreach to their communities, but we want to support Christian charities at the cutting edge. So when we heard about O Isma Pinta we wanted to get involved with the project. Building O Isma Pinta's English and Portuguese websites were just one way that we knew we could help.

Working closely with Ismael we were given wire-frames of precisely what he wanted the website to look like. The beauty of working with bespoke software, which we have programmed ourselves, is that you can then design and build a customised bespoke website. We were able to translate O Isma Pinta's animations into an animated home page that showcases Ismael's work perfectly. We created pages for his site that featured his videos, and how to donate to him. We have also added in the shop facility so that he will be able to sell merchandise and the original songs associated with his videos.

Looking Forward

For O Isma Pinta this is just the beginning of the adventure. We are hoping to partner with them as they bring new material online to help the children in Portugal find out more about the Bible and God's love for them.

You can see O Isma Pinta's UK website here.