Restoring Rivers. Inspiring Communities.
The South East Rivers Trust (SERT) restores and protects rivers across South East England, improving habitats, tackling pollution and helping communities reconnect with the waterways on their doorstep. Its work spans practical conservation, scientific research, education, advocacy and community engagement, bringing together local residents, landowners, businesses, schools, volunteers and policymakers around a shared goal – healthier rivers.
As the organisation grew, it became clear that its charity website needed to do far more than simply share information about projects.
SERT wanted to reach new audiences, strengthen public advocacy and encourage more people to take practical action for rivers through volunteering, fundraising, campaigning and education. Achieving that meant looking beyond a traditional website redesign.
The organisation needed a digital partner capable of combining audience research, brand development, user experience, SEO and technical expertise into a single joined-up strategy.
The Challenge
SERT had grown significantly over recent years, with an expanding portfolio of conservation projects, educational resources, events and campaigns. The website needed to serve many different audiences, from local residents wanting to improve their neighbourhood rivers to environmental professionals, funders, schools, businesses and policymakers.
Each audience arrived with different questions, motivations and levels of knowledge. Creating a website that worked equally well for all of them required much more than reorganising pages or refreshing the visual design.
The Trust also recognised that its brand had evolved. While its conservation work had grown in scale and ambition, its digital identity no longer reflected the confidence, authority and energy of the Trust today.
Rather than treating branding and website design as separate exercises, SERT wanted both to evolve together, creating a stronger and more consistent experience across every digital touchpoint.
Our Approach
We began where we always do – by getting to know the organisation in depth before thinking about the website.
Through discovery workshops, audience research, analytics reviews, SEO analysis and information architecture planning, we worked closely with stakeholders to understand how different audiences were using the existing website, where they were encountering barriers and how SERT wanted its digital presence to support the organisation over the coming years.
That discovery work shaped every decision that followed.
Alongside the website, we developed an evolved brand identity, including refreshed typography, colour palettes, iconography, templates and tone of voice guidance, helping create a more confident and consistent visual language across both digital and offline communications.
We reorganised the website around the things people actually wanted to do. Whether they were looking to volunteer, donate, explore projects in their local area or understand the issues affecting rivers, it became much easier to find a clear starting point without having to dig through layers of content.
