Smile Vaults

HEY Smile Foundation operates two key initiatives for the local voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. One is called The Vault, a library of equipment charities can hire free of charge to assist with their fundraising activities. The other is Beecan, a support network that helps VCSEs to access funding, skills and expertise.

Despite both initiatives being run by HEY Smile Foundation, they had totally separate brands and websites, with different login details required to access each one. Quite often VCSEs use both services and the lack of cohesion was causing confusion.

The Vault website was also very out-dated and its existing booking system required modernising. HEY Smile Foundation aspired to open more Vault locations around the region, but their out-dated tech was stopping them in their tracks.

Achieving cohesion with single sign-on technology

We introduced HEY Smile Foundation to the concept of single sign-on technology. We developed our own, bespoke single sign-on platform for the project to ensure it met HEY Smile Foundation’s needs perfectly.

It allows users of The Vault and Beecan to use the same username and password to log into each website, reassuring users of the relationship between the two different initiatives. This single sign-on technology can also be integrated into any new systems HEY Smile Foundation may launch in the future. 

Brand unification

As well as making the login process less complicated for end users, we also achieved cohesion across HEY Smile Foundation’s various digital initiatives with a branding exercise.

We produced a collection of logo assets for The Vault, The Hull Vault, Beecan and a new VCSE brand using the font and circular elements of the existing HEY Smile Foundation logo. This has massively helped with digital asset management and maintaining a consistent page style across various web applications.

Facilitating growth

We built The Vault booking system and new website in a way that allows multiple Vaults to be set up at any time. This was designed to facilitate HEY Smile Foundation’s aspiration to expand the service across the region. 

The new booking system was also a totally bespoke project and allows for a lot of niche use-cases. For example, we can trigger warnings if users book items from multiple vaults on the same dates, allowing Vault staff to remind users to return items to the correct vaults. The system also has a sophisticated way of checking stock and supports the different opening times of various locations.

The bespoke platforms we developed have helped to facilitate the expansion of HEY Smile Foundation’s services. 

More VCSEs are able to access The Vault using their Beecan login details, making it much easier to benefit from both initiatives. They’ll also be able to use these details to access any new services launched in the future, too.

Two additional Vaults have also opened, with plans to open more in the near future. The new Vault booking platform helps volunteers to manage bookings with ease, which has considerably reduced any problems, making better use of their valuable time.

The overall look and feel of HEY Smile Foundation’s initiatives have also been modernised and harmonised, allowing users to understand the relationship between them all more clearly.