How the Scottish Tech Army supported a beloved grassroots charity to grow post-pandemic
The Daisy Project (Domestic Abuse Integrated Support for You) provides integrated domestic abuse advocacy and support services to families across the South of Glasgow. Originally named the Castlemilk Domestic Violence Project, the charity was formed in 2000 based on a need identified within the local community and is now run by a dedicated team of five qualified Independent Domestic Abuse Advocates (IDAAs) who have extensive experience of supporting women long-term.
Pivoting a well-honed model in a new world order
In March 2020 life changed forever as COVID-19 struck and the world went into lockdown.
For the Daisy Project this meant that continuing the transition from an exclusively paper-based operating system run from community locations around south Glasgow to a safe, shared network was vital to further develop the service and ensure vulnerable clients were supported during the pandemic.
Project Manager, Janice reflects: “The big change for us was with the women we support because we would normally see them in person and our concern was their safety. It was a huge step for us to think about the different platforms we could use and so it became a patchwork of telephone, Zoom and Teams. A lot of women felt WhatsApp was more accessible to them and it was particularly helpful for three-way conversations where we needed interpreters. So we adapted our provision to meet the needs of the women in the best way we could.”
While there were lots of positives in expanding the service for both the organisation and the women they support, Janice and her team experienced some teething issues in pivoting to a more hybrid model.
They needed a digital strategy.
They needed the Scottish Tech Army (STA).
The STA step in
Janice heard about the STA whilst attending a National Lottery Building Resilience peer networking event Inspired by the work the STA had done with other charities, she got in touch in November 2023 for a solution to replace WhatsApp with a more secure option for messages and short calls. The brief included a range of vital considerations such as the women’s safety, security, the small team with a heavy workload, accessibility for staff and clients, boundaries to protect staff wellbeing and recognition of the diverse communities supported.
The STA volunteer team was made up of Grainne McIntyre as the Lead Business Analyst and Dougie Richardson provided the technical expertise. The team was supported by Joanna Allen and Joe Cross – providing support and guidance as needed.
Grainne’s background is predominantly as a pensions/finance/business/product analyst with a focus on transformation projects and she’d been volunteering with the STA since 2020, working on solutions for Young Enterprise Scotland and Forth Valley Rape Crisis.
Dougie was an Avionics Technician in the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers for 24 years. He says he “joined the STA primarily to gain relevant industry experience as part of my resettlement, and by the time I was involved in this project I had completed an internship in Barclays' Military Talent Scheme as a Solutions Architect in Private Bank and secured a role as a Cloud Engineer on the Enterprise Data Platform.”
Teamwork makes the dream work
Work started in January 2024. Grainne reflects: “After confirming the core requirement with the client, I started a Gap Analysis on market options. Dougie brought Nextcloud (Ionos) to my attention and also gave me (and Daisy) temporary access to his own personal hosting to review, which was really appreciated and invaluable.”
Dougie continues: “The solution needed to be hosted, as maintenance is typically a challenge for most charities, both in cost and diverting them from their primary role. Managing and supporting an app is time-consuming and resource intensive.”
Following Dougie’s recommendations, Grainne ran the requirements against all the relevant options: WhatsApp, Nextcloud, Signal and Telegram. Her research together with Dougie’s user experience confirmed that the best solution for Daisy was Nextcloud because it features a host of unique, innovative security technologies including integrated end-to-end, client-side encryption. Grainne tested the solution by creating basic user stories to drive out the requirements further and ready-made test scenarios.
Janice and Emma, Daisy’s Digital and Inclusion lead, were involved in testing from the outset and weekly Friday meetings between the STA and client team built a collaborative working relationship. Grainne recalls “having lots of fun – and trial and error” as they put the test environment through its paces. Grainne also created a user-friendly manual to ensure the Daisy team could administer the system independently once the project was completed.
Early days, but visible signs of growth
Janice notes that “we’re still in the very early stages of testing the system, but to this point it’s a very positive method of communication that will enable us to be flexible, pass workloads between case workers and most importantly the women will be safe and anonymous.”
The system in place allows case workers to quickly upload local information for women to view confidentially, giving them access to support and services that they might otherwise be unaware of, for example yoga classes, holiday clubs or food and poverty provision.
Janice has also observed that the core community of women now numbers over 30, and members tend to stay within the group for longer than before, creating “enormous opportunities for connection.” It also creates opportunities for women learning new skills and gaining confidence – one member who “likes to get the bit between her teeth” has been asked if she’d like to be a digital champion, responsible for maintaining the network.
Dougie recalls: “This is likely one of the most satisfying tasks I've completed with the STA – there's a clear problem statement and a viable cost-effective solution.”
Janice reflects: “To me it was a whirlwind. All of a sudden, we had a solution, a working model that could be used across desktop or mobile, with the security levels we needed. It was invaluable how Grainne narrowed the brief down to give us a focus – I can’t imagine how much time she spent behind the scenes!”
The final words belong to Janice: “We would never have been able to do this ourselves. It was a real gift to know we could vocalise the issues and Grainne would go off and bring the solution back.”
Why volunteer for Scottish Tech Army?
Grainne: “Working with the STA is a great way to meet and learn from people working outside your own industry. You can test your skills in an unfamiliar domain and also give something back. I'm in awe of the amazing people I've been lucky enough to partner up and work with. It's an opportunity to learn and also to try some new skills, there is always someone in the STA who will help and support you. You're never alone!”
Dougie: “Get involved and get hands-on – you can't learn from the sidelines.”
About The Daisy Project:
To find out more about the charity please visit www.thedaisyproject.org.uk
Written by: Nicola Clark-Tonberg
