Tech company saves housing associations millions with proprietary centralised system that streamlines community services

We Are Digitial, the UK’s only Wel-Tech business that helps people in need connect with local welfare services with a one-stop-shop platform, has raised £5.5m to expand their services to further help local authorities and Housing Associations save money as well as their residents access the services they need.

The tech for good company is used in a variety of ways by central Government, local housing associations and corporate businesses from Lloyds Banking Group and Santander to Vodafone and Openreach to help people find jobs, learn digital skills, understand their finances, fill out government forms and receive advice around grants or the cost of living crisis.

Unlike other, individual fragmented systems, We Are Digital has developed a centralised platform and can immediately connect a customer in need to thousands of third-sector providers managed by the company in its supply chain.

They currently work with a variety of housing associations including Orbit, L&Q, Sanctuary, Places for People and Southern Housing as well as a variety of Local Authorities taking on thousands of calls a month and triaging their needs to deliver tailored solutions One Housing Association (L&Q ) saved £250,000 a year using the platform with the value to low-income residents and community impact being £40m.

Matt Bayliss, Head of Independent Lives Services at L&Q said, “The cost of living crisis remains a serious challenge for many housing association residents. Through our work with We Are Digital, we were able to develop and deliver Pound Advice, a financial advisory service, which reached around 3,000 residents last year     

“Through Pound Advice, our residents can speak to qualified advisors who offer residents support and guidance accessing financial assistance or welfare benefits, managing debts and budgeting to make money stretch further. We know that much larger numbers of people, including those who never needed financial support, are finding their budgets stretched, and this service is more essential than ever.”

We Are Digital supports residents with cost of living advice across the UK through their services, across London access debt advice 80 times faster than the previous service-model, and delivered £29M Social value to community, £11.6M Financial gains achieved, £3,415 Financial gains per resident.
        
The impact business, formed ten years ago by Digital Poverty Alliance Community Board Member Matthew Adam (pictured), has developed a new proprietary end-to-end technology platform to disrupt what has been a very traditional and fragmented sector.  In readiness for growth, the company hired Jonathan Prew as Managing Director, bringing considerable experience from a career included senior positions are Capita, Serco, BT and Housing Partners.

It is now helping thousands of people a year access community services more efficiently across digital skills, money advice, employability and local and national government services but will grow this number massively in the coming months.

Rather than being pushed around departments and waiting months for appointments, users can access services more quickly, with the company triaging requests, handling bookings and integrating with the huge nationwide network of local third-sector providers it manages. Users can choose to have a video or phone call or a face to face session in a local centre or their home. In one project,

Matthew, Founder and CEO, said: “We have seen first hand how this has been a game changer, not just for those in need who can now access the services they need so much faster than before, but also the providers, who have saved millions by us taking over part of their infrastructure for them which enables them to help more people. We are positively disrupting the huge market in welfare, one that hasn’t had much change in decades, and in a way that will benefit everyone.

“We help delivery partners reduce their administration, enabling them to help more people, save money for our clients, make local services more efficient and enable people to be seen quicker in their time of need in a way that is convenient to them. ”

“Our system connects all the dots. Rather than someone having to make several appointments over many weeks and sometimes months to get to the right person, we do that immediately by creating a single front door and plugging them into our third-sector providers and instantly finding appointments for them.

“There are so many use cases where this platform can be used.”

Astrid Fockens, Partner at Impact partners, said: “We Are Digital’s unique model enables social welfare initiatives to scale and helps thousands of vulnerable people across various communities to get the help they need. Together, we are confident we can bring this social impact even further.”

We Are Digital www.we-are-digital.co.uk 

Image - Matthew Adam © We Are Digital