Our thinking

A welcome Shift

17 April, 2020

When crisis hits, organisations need to adapt to survive. But that doesn’t mean forgetting what you do best. 

Take our friends at Shift. Designing innovative and effective solutions to social problems is their bread and butter. But now, as part of UK digital collaborative Catalyst, they are repurposing this skill to a new end: helping UK charities deal with the implications of COVID-19. 

It’s not an easy task. As fundraising events are cancelled, and staff and volunteers are kept at home, demand is soaring for the practical and emotional support that many charities offer. And, for those serving vulnerable groups such as older people, it’s not as simple as moving your lunch club to Microsoft Teams. Two thirds of people aged 75 and over are not online and, as social disadvantages rise, so does the likelihood of reduced internet access. 

Catalyst’s solution is threefold: building shared understanding of the challenges facing UK charities today; mapping the resources available to help and connecting capacity with need. True to form, Catalyst has already begun linking up select charities with Catalyst Digital Teams: teams of digital experts – including the Shift team – helping charities adapt their services in response to COVID-19, for free.  

Now is not the time for reinventing the wheel. Instead, it’s about helping valuable services continue doing what they do best in drastically altered circumstances. In this, as in so much else, we’re proud to see Shift leading by example.