Background

Lex Scotland is a community interest company (CIC) born from personal experience and a deep commitment to change. The team are passionate about empowering people from diverse backgrounds and cultures with lived experiences of social injustice and marginalisation. They are committed to finding innovative and radical approaches for co-creating transformative change.

Need for Support

When Maddie from LEX Scotland applied to the Accelerate programme for support, it was at a difficult time for the organisation. A key director had just stepped down, and they were facing significant challenges, particularly in developing a digital presence. Their website was a primary concern; they had malware and had to take the site down while it was fixed. As a start-up, this couldn't have come at a worse time for the organisation; it was a crucial time for building awareness of their work.

What we Did

Working closely with advisors like Margot from Community Enterprise and Marissa from Breeze Digital, LEX Scotland overcame some of the most pressing issues facing the fledgling organisation. Margot helped them completely rethink their marketing and refined the language on the website, making sure it was accessible to people unfamiliar with terms like ‘lived experience leadership.’ Margot also helped them to understand where to focus their efforts, particularly since time was the most significant resource constraint. The team felt that one of the most valuable lessons they learned from Margot was that not all marketing channels are created equal. Margot showed the team that their real strength was in conferences and personal connections, and as a result, they didn’t need to focus so heavily on social media.

Marissa from Breeze Digital was tasked with addressing the organisation's website issues. She offered the team the choice to either have her handle all the fixes or to work alongside her so they could learn how to do it themselves. They agreed on a hybrid approach —Marissa fixed the most urgent issues, but then she made instructional videos for the team so they could learn how to manage the site in the future. The team told us that the empowerment they felt after learning to manage the WordPress-based site was a 'game changer'. Before Marissa's support, they felt like they were being held to ransom by developers because they didn’t understand the technical side. Now, they have enough knowledge to manage updates and changes independently and can even push back if a developer suggests something unnecessary. That confidence has made all the difference.

Outcomes

A strong marketing plan

The skills and confidence to manage their website independently