Lifestart provides Sydney families with an early childhood intervention program for children 0 to 6 years of age with Down Syndrome, Autism, delays in development, or at risk of delay. They also provide a School Age Services program to support children with disabilities 6-18 years of age. A small charity organisation, Lifestart does extraordinary things in the community, with the help of families and volunteers.

The Lifestart marketing and administration team required a website refresh. They wanted to feature their services, showcase their news and events, and provide an opportunity for members/visitors to interact and post comments.

Their previous website had been built on a sophisticated content management system (CMS), capable of doing many of the things that they required. However the challenge for the team had been finding the time and resources to get to know and use the system on a regular basis. With only one team member familiar with the CMS, it was clear that they needed a much simpler solution, so that others could share the updating of the website.

Having worked pro bono with the organisation for nearly 5 years, Go Man Go Digital Marketing were keen to keep Lifestart’s costs down along with their CMS training hours. Our objective was to provide them with a CMS that would allow at least three of the Lifestart team members the opportunity to learn and start using the system, virtually straight away. We volunteered our own customised website template as part of their online solution. Utilising the Wordpress publishing system, the Lifestart website uses Go Man Go’s customised interface. A combination of a blog and a traditional website.

For the look and feel, we focused on the Lifestart kids who are indeed very special and very talented. All the main headers throughout the website, feature pictures drawn by children from Lifestart’s Early Childhood Intervention Centres.

Lifestart’s website continues to evolve and grow, showcasing new events, sponsors, employment opportunities and a new shopping area worth checking out.

If you are looking for a local Sydney charity to support or you know someone that could benefit from their services, please visit Lifestart - helping special kids.