Voluntary Action Rotherham
Co-designing a better way to connect people, communities and services across Rotherham.
We worked with Voluntary Action Rotherham (VAR) to explore the future of the borough’s community support and information platform.
Through research, community visits and co-design workshops, we brought together residents, voluntary organisations, NHS colleagues and local authority teams to understand how people find support, what gets in their way and how a better connected approach could improve neighbourhood health.
Our work resulted in recommendations and a practical roadmap for developing a shared community platform that goes beyond a traditional voluntary sector services directory.
Making it easier for people to find the right support, at the right time.
Rotherham faces significant health and social inequalities. More than a third of residents live in some of England’s most deprived areas, and healthy life expectancy is well below the national average.
The borough has a strong network of voluntary organisations, community groups and public services. However, information about local support is spread across different organisations, websites and networks, making it difficult for residents and professionals to find what they need.
VAR’s existing community directory, Rotherham Gismo, was no longer meeting people’s needs. Our initial review identified limitations in its usability, content and functionality. Practitioners also told us they often relied on personal contacts and local knowledge to connect people with services.
VAR wanted to understand whether Rotherham needed a new online community platform and, importantly, what it would need to do to make a meaningful difference. The challenge was not simply to replace an outdated directory, but to explore how technology could connect people, strengthen local networks and support neighbourhood health.
Starting with people, not technology.
We worked alongside VAR to review the existing platform, understand local needs and explore what a future community platform could offer. Our approach combined stakeholder interviews, community visits, user research and co-design workshops. We used Made Open’s 5Ps framework to consider the wider purpose, partnerships and governance needed to make a new platform successful.
Bringing local partners together to co-design.
Our co-design workshops brought together voluntary sector organisations, charities, social prescribers, NHS colleagues, public health specialists, council teams and other local partners.
Rather than starting by asking what features people wanted from a website, we asked: “What helps someone find the right support when they need it most?”
Participants worked with realistic personas representing older people leaving hospital, unpaid carers, new parents, young adults experiencing poor mental health, people with long-term conditions and families from different cultural backgrounds.
Using service design exercises and a co-design canvas, groups explored the challenges these people might face, how they currently find help and where better information or stronger connections could make a difference. They then prioritised requirements for a future platform.
A better directory alone will not solve the problem.
Some of our most valuable insights came from visiting local community groups, including Pen and Purpose, a creative wellbeing group, and Headway, which supports brain injury survivors and their families.
Through conversations and observations, we saw how people build relationships, share experiences and create trusted support networks. These visits reinforced that people often turn to someone they know and trust before accessing formal services or searching online.
Our research highlighted the need to make information easier to find, more reliable and accessible to everyone. But it also revealed a wider opportunity: to build on the relationships and strengths already within communities, helping people and organisations share information, work together and respond to local needs.
We organised the requirements for a future platform into three priorities:
- Get the essentials right: Intelligent search, accessible and mobile-friendly design, multilingual information and trusted, up-to-date content.
- Make support easier to access: Interactive maps, self-referral tools and personalised recommendations.
- Strengthen community connections: Feedback, peer support, volunteering and opportunities for participation.
A shared platform, built around local needs.
We gave VAR a detailed report setting out what we learned, the most important platform features and a practical route forward.
We recommended developing a shared community platform, rather than simply replacing Gismo with another directory. The next steps are to agree a common vision with local partners, confirm how the platform will be funded and managed, and develop the essential features first.
We also outlined a phased plan towards a potential launch in spring 2027, with ongoing improvements shaped by feedback and evidence.
A clear plan for what comes next.
The project gave VAR a clearer picture of what local people and organisations need, and a plan for what to do next.
Rotherham already has strong community groups, trusted relationships and local knowledge. A well-designed platform could make these strengths easier to discover and connect, helping residents find support earlier and organisations work better together.
What impressed me most was Made Open's knowledge, and their ability to capture requirements at every level. They understood our sector and our place straight away, and they drew out what mattered from strategic partners, practitioners and residents alike. We came away with absolute confidence in their expertise.
Hannah Thornton
Primary Project Contact, Voluntary Action Rotherham
"It has got to be more than just an updated Gismo. There's no point in updating Gismo if that's all it is. It's got to be more."
Lucy Winter
Rotherham Gismo Administrator
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