Hackney-based digital studio WeAgile joined Heart of the City in 2020. When the lockdown began in March 2020, they wanted to show that service-based businesses could find innovative ways to support their communities, as well as product-oriented companies.
One of the first decisions that WeAgile made, even before the lockdown, was to make sure the staff team was supported in whatever way was necessary. “For us, people always come first, so we expedited all payments to our network of suppliers and team members, just to give them at least one less thing to worry about” Chris Bradshaw, Co-Founder at WeAgile.
And when schools closed across the UK, WeAgile wanted to help parents with home-schooling their children, so they launched WeLearn, a free weekly online group tutoring session. “It was heartening to find that these sessions gave parents a breather in the middle of the day and taught children some very practical skills – not only maths but also how to use video conferencing platforms“ Monshur Ali, Co-Founder at WeAgile.
The importance of charities’ digital presence was immediately acknowledged by the WeAgile team. With the help of Heart of the City, WeAgile were introduced to charities like Camden Giving. In July, WeAgile and Camden Giving hosted a workshop to over 40 charities to learn about in-house social media management. And an independent panel of WeAgile employees chose 3 charities whose websites have been redesigned and redeveloped pro bono.
In April 2021, WeAgile won the Heart of the City award at the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards for this project. Monshur Ali said:
“It’s been a difficult time for all businesses but the entire team wanted to do their part and support the local community. To win a Dragon Award means a feeling of jubilation for everyone at WeAgile who put aside their own struggles and focused on going the extra mile to help others.”
“I’d highly recommend that companies support responsible business and deliver it from the top down – we instantly felt like the whole company was on board and wanted to play their part in this programme.”
Watch their Dragon Awards winner video:
