Help for Heroes

The UK charity Help for Heroes was launched in 2007 with a mission to provide direct, practical support for servicemen and women injured in the line of duty. Prior to the launch of the charity we know today, founders Bryn and Emma Parry approached us to help them create a website as part of their efforts to raise £50,000 to install a swimming pool at the Headley Court Rehabilitation centre. The original target was surpassed, then an £8 million target smashed. Today, Help for Heroes has raised more than £200 million and continues to work to provide funds to support wounded service personnel.

We’re proud to have worked with Help for Heroes along the way and have taken time to understand the charity’s goals and infrastructure. The result is a collaborative relationship which consistently develops the charity’s ideas with a proactive approach and visionary attitude.

Help for Heroes is one of the most recognisable charities in the UK and, thanks to its rapid growth and staggering amount of public support, its website and technical elements require agility, scalability and continuous development. The website receives more than 200,000 visitors each month and exists to encourage public donations to the charities fundraising efforts but also supports an online store. The ecommerce side turns over around £1 million per year, with supporters able to purchase branded merchandise and revenues helping to cover administration costs.

The site has its own events system, which handles around 500 events per week and its own social network, HeroNet, which acts as a community for supporters.

The Web Design Southampton team works with Help for Heroes to manage the site content, keeping visitors constantly updated with latest news and fundraising efforts. We redeveloped the original website in 2009 in order to accommodate the increasing content and new web technologies, incorporating several new features such as a static donation button, making it easier than ever for visitors to support the charity at any time on site.

We are very proud of the role we have played in supporting the digital development of Help for Heroes. Between 2007-2012, the charity raised a staggering £127 million in donations.

The ecommerce store now has an annual turnover of £1 million annually.