Anna Freud website build
Anna Freud is a leading mental health charity supporting children, families, and professionals with evidence-based resources. We partnered to deliver a new website aligned with their Closing the Gap strategy.
When mental health support for children is harder to access than ever, digital platforms can bridge the gap. But what happens when those platforms are no longer fit for purpose and need to be replaced? This case study shows how we brought clarity and focus to transforming a charity’s online presence to prioritise the delivery of much needed evidence-based resources to parents, teachers, and professionals. If you‘re considering a website rebuild, but feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of boxes to tick, this is a blueprint for triaging what’s essential.
The Challenge
Create a fast, secure, user-focused website within a tight timeframe to reach wider audiences and support strategic goals.
Our Approach
Immersion and Insight: We began with deep discovery sessions and stakeholder interviews to understand organisational goals and the Closing the Gap strategy. This ensured every decision aligned with Anna Freud’s mission.
User-Centred Research: Surveys and interviews with teachers and professionals revealed how they search for and consume mental health resources. These insights shaped navigation and content priorities.
Strategic Solutioning: We conducted an options analysis to identify the best CMS approach. A headless CMS was chosen for speed, security, and flexibility, paired with an MVP build to meet the six-month deadline.
Foundations for the Future
We delivered a completely reimagined website in just six months — a feat achieved through meticulous planning and collaboration. The new site introduced a headless CMS for speed, security, and flexibility, laying the groundwork for continuous improvement. Navigation was streamlined, and resources were reorganised by topic rather than audience, making it easier for teachers, parents, and professionals to find what they need quickly.
Key frameworks, such as Anna Freud’s 5 Steps to Mental Health and Wellbeing, were redeveloped to ensure long-term scalability. The launch wasn’t just a redesign; it was a strategic shift that aligned digital delivery with the charity’s Closing the Gap mission, creating a platform ready to evolve with future needs.
The Impact
- Lighthouse score: 80 → 99 (desktop), 61 → 85 (mobile)
- Security rating: D → A+
- Resources reorganised for easier access
- Framework for ongoing digital innovation
What stood out about Reason [Digital] was meeting us where we are, but with an understanding of our ambition and not trying to limit that ambition. We really appreciated how Reason Digital showed up across that project in adhering to our restrictions and being very flexible around our requirements, but also [being] creative and inspirational in some of the areas where it was required.
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