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Lightning Reach support worker access pilot 

Support worker pilot mock up on laptop

PILOT DETAILS

 

Quick links

 


 

Lightning Reach pilot contacts

 

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​Pilot resources - sharing and signposting the portal with clients

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  • Add a link to your website and emails - You can find copy and instructions on how to add a link to the portal in this short copy document. We’ve also generated a custom url for your organisation so we can track registrations from your clients. 

    • Your unique custom url: please contact your orgs primary contact who has this or a member of the Lightning Ream team

    • Short blurb you can add to your website (please use the custom url): 

Looking for a quick and easy way to find financial support? 

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Lightning Reach is a free online portal that helps you find and apply for charitable grants, local authority support and help with your bills all in one place. Sign up for Lightning Reach today and see what help you could get - it only takes a few minutes.

  • Sharing information verbally or in print - here is some short copy (in page 3) that you can use when speaking with clients about the portal. You can also share our one-page poster with your colleagues and volunteers so they can be aware of the portal and send it to people who are looking for support. The poster can be printed or shared electronically.

  • Spread the word on social media - follow us on social media on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook for the latest updates from us and share about the portal on your own organisation’s social media channels, tagging us @lightningreach on Twitter, to help spread the word to your followers and clients.

 

What is this pilot?

 

This 3 month pilot (now extended to 6 months) enables support workers to use the Lightning Reach portal on behalf of their clients. With this new feature you can complete profiles, discover and apply for support on behalf of your clients.

 

During this pilot, you will have early access to Beta functionality and we will be requesting a certain level of engagement and commitment from pilot partners, including a group monthly check in call and sharing feedback regularly with us to help us co-design and improve this new functionality.


 

Who is involved in the pilot?

 

Selected pilot partners are organisations that regularly help clients / service users to find and apply for different sources of support. We have included c.30 organisations in this initial pilot phase who offer support across varying sectors: Housing, Local Authority, Military/Veteran support, Money Advice, Food banks and other support agencies. All these organisations support individuals / communities that may struggle to access support online on their own, and could benefit from the range of support we currently offer on our portal.

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Why is this feature important?

 

For the support worker: To make it easier and more efficient for support workers to manage their client cases. Discover and applying for support.

 

For the client: To help bridge barriers to support (digital, language etc) + certain support only accept applications via a registered support worker. 

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What are the pilot timelines?

 

  • 11th April: Pilot launch date (You are able to access the Lighting Reach portal as a support worker anytime from this date)

  • April - June: Three month pilot period to gather on-going feedback, co-design and further develop the feature

  • June-Sept: Pilot extended by an additional 3 months

  • c.Q4: Full beta release: After completion of the pilot period, the feature will be launched and will be open to all interested orgs to sign up.

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As the organisations primary contact, how can I invite team members to create an account?

 

There is no limit to the number of team members you can add. Please email your team members names and emails to hello@lightningreach.org.


Lightning Reach will send invites out to your team members. Team members can refer to the pilot guide for more details on setting up their account and creating client profiles here.

 

 

How can I leave feedback?

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  • 3x group feedback sessions (1x per month, invites to follow). Proposed dates:
     

    • Wed 3rd May, 2-3pm 

    • Wed 7th June, 2-3pm 

    • Wed 15th Nov, 2-3pm

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  • 1x individual org session during the duration of the pilot phase. The primary contact is able to book in a 1hr time slot during the duration of the pilot. The primary contact is free to invite all team members to this session. These workshops will provide the opportunity for you and your team to share in depth feedback on the experience of the pilot so far and explore what new features / functionality would bring most value to your workflow.
     

    • Session booking link coming soon 

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  • Leaving feedback outside of these sessions:
     

    • We want to hear from you at any time if you encounter any difficulties using the portal or you have any suggested improvements. You and any members of your team can let know by submitting the pilot feedback form here. All of your feedback is appreciated.

    • We are currently working on expanding the support available on the Lightning Reach portal. If there are particular grants, schemes, or other support that you would find helpful, please let us know here. We will try to prioritise onboarding these.


 

What is a Beta feature?

 

This pilot is for Beta functionality, this is an effective way to co-design the right features at the right time. By starting with the core set of features rather than a full-blown, feature-heavy product, we can verify that our product concept resonates with you, our target audience.

 

The functionality at the beginning of the pilot will be very limited, and this will evolve over time based on the feedback that we get from participants. Your experience using the portal is invaluable to improving the design and functionality of this feature.

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Key Functionality for initial launch phase:

 

  • One level of role/permission (as in current admin portal)

 

  • Support workers within orgs can be invited to create an account by Lightning Reach

 

  • Support worker has access to account and only they can complete a profile/application initially (plan for dual access in next phase)

 

  • Two-factor authentication mandatory for extra security

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What costs are involved?

 

It’s free to take part in the pilot. During this pilot phase we plan on developing Free and Paid versions of the support worker access feature - which will be defined during this pilot phase. We recognise the needs of the varying support organisations differ hence why we feel it is important to develop a tool that fits different organisation sizes and budgets. There is no obligation for pilot partners to take up a Paid account thereafter.


 

What support is currently available on the portal?

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Our team is currently working hard adding a large range of support onto the Lightning Reach portal, and this process will continue throughout the pilot process.

 

More information about the support currently available on the portal can be found here. 


Please get in touch if there are specific grants or support that you would like us to prioritise. You can let us know here.

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