Community groups, churches, charities, sports clubs, village halls, scout groups. You all have the same problem: people don't know you exist, or they can't find out when your next event is. A Facebook group helps with members you already have, but it's useless for reaching new people. When someone searches "spiritualist church near me" or "cricket club Bury" or "village hall hire Ramsbottom", the groups with a proper website are the ones they find.
I'm Laurence, and I build websites for community organisations. Hand-coded, simple, fast, and easy for your members and the public to use. No complicated content management systems that need a committee meeting to update. Just clear information about who you are, what you do, and how to get involved.
It's almost always the same thing: when is the next event, where are you, and how do they join or attend. Your website needs to answer those questions immediately. Service times, event calendars, meeting schedules, venue hire information, contact details, and directions. I build sites that put all of that on the front page or one click away. No digging through menus.
Accessibility matters more for community sites than almost any other type. Your members and visitors may be older, less confident with technology, or have accessibility needs. I build sites that are clean, readable, and work properly on every device without needing a computer science degree to navigate.
I built the website for Bury Spiritualist Centre, giving them a proper online presence with service times, upcoming events, and clear information for first-time visitors. Before the site, people could only find them through word of mouth or a Facebook page that didn't rank on Google. Now they show up when people search.
Community groups are run by volunteers. Nobody has time to learn WordPress or fight with a website builder. With a fully managed site, you just tell me what needs changing and I update it. New event? Email me the details. Change of service times? One message and it's done. That's what the monthly plan is for.
A hand-coded website starts at £499 one-off. If you'd rather spread the cost, fully managed sites start from £30 a month, which includes hosting, SSL, support and all updates. Nothing upfront on the monthly option. For community groups running on tight budgets, that monthly spread often makes the difference.
I also set up business email on your own domain from £8 a month, and run local SEO so people in your area can actually find you when they search. £199 setup, £20 a month.
If your community group is relying on a Facebook page and a noticeboard, a proper website changes everything. Let's have a chat.