Innovate Trust is the winner of the Digital Pioneers Award at Wales Council for Voluntary Action’s (WCVA) Welsh Charity Awards for our community app Insight.
All winners of the Welsh Charity Awards will feature on ITV Cymru Wales news at 6pm during this Welsh Charities Week between the 21-25 November 2022.
The making of our Insight app
Since the launch of Insight two years ago, our involvement with people with Learning Disabilities has grown by 500%. Insight has offered us the tools to transform how organisations and individuals provide and share services for the greater good.
It’s been amazing to see our idea flourish and benefit so many people. We are thrilled to win this award, which we feel underlines the considerable dedication and hard work of all those involved. When the Covid crisis began, we were worried about the wider community.
We thought there was a real risk that many of our participants could become quite isolated. Then we thought, wouldn’t it be good to at least have a social group where they could talk about their interests? And now the Insight Community has grown from that.
Expanding on digital inclusion
At Innovate Trust, we provide a person-centred approach to care. Before Insight, we provided in-person support to 300 adults with Learning Disabilities in Southeast Wales. Thanks to Insight, we now offer support to over 1,600 members across the UK, both in-person and online.
With support from 120 organisations and groups, Insight has assisted us in achieving so much in the past two years. The community app provides over 80 live and in-person activities per week. Activities are ran by, for, and with individuals with Learning Disabilities.
Members can choose to join any of the groups that match their interests. Meet new friends, take part in new experiences and develop new skills.
We continue to push for the expansion of digital inclusion for individuals with a Learning Disability.
Join over 120 organisations that share and benefit from Insight, for free! All we ask is that you make a small commitment to share your opportunities available to members on the app. Want to know more? Schedule a demo with a member of our development team.
Boosting confidence, skills and independence
The free and accessible Insight community app is a thriving, collaborative social hub that brings people together to share resources, news and activities for adults with a Learning Disability. Insight offers over 80 free hybrid activities per week, such as Yoga, Street Dance, Sing & Sign, and many more. This translates to over 6,000 free events to date.
Alex, a participant at Innovate Trust, is a keen gamer and decided to use lockdown productively by tuning in to the gardening lessons on the Insight app.
Like Alex, many members have told us that the app has given them a significant boost to get online for the first time. Insight has helped to build their confidence, digital skills and independence.
I’m really enjoying it – it really has boosted my confidence a lot.
Adults with a disability now facilitate 3 in 10 of the events on Insight. Almost a quarter say the app encouraged them to use the internet for the very first time. Nearly 35% of members also say that the app inspired them to use social media for the very first time.
Innovate Trust is an established leader in alternative service provision. This app, which is entirely free to access, has broken new ground. It’s wonderful to see the charity supporting not only their Cardiff clients to live as independently as possible but other vulnerable people in Wales and across the UK. ‘It is a strong example of how intelligent and thoughtful use of digital technology can transform a charity [and how it] brings out the best in people.
[We received] many exciting nominations of charities making a significant shift towards digital working. We were particularly impressed by Innovate Trust’s careful planning, and the amount of training and support employees and members received to use the app.
Organised by WCVA for Welsh Charities Week, the Awards celebrate the fantastic contribution of charities, community groups, not-for-profits to Wales. The week highlights and champions the positive difference we can make to each other’s lives.
