The Richmond Fellowship

Maldaba implemented a web-based system for The Richmond Fellowship (RF) to manage and capture day-to-day staff involvement with their clients.

RF came to Maldaba in 2005 with a solution in mind. They had specified the technology they wanted to use, and the fields of data that needed to be captured. However, after our initial meeting with them two things became clear. Firstly, although they had defined their solution, they hadn’t yet defined the problem they were trying to solve. Secondly, even if the problem had been clearly defined, the technology they had chosen was inappropriate for the needs of their organisation.

We spent time with RF, getting to know the organisation and understanding how they work. We helped RF establish a common language for dealing with clients so that all staff knew exactly what the terminology meant. Then we helped RF formalise their working practices into protocols (which they turned into a manual and use to train new staff) so that everyone knew what was expected of them, and when it was expected.

Finally we sat down with RF and looked at whether Maldaba could offer an IT solution to improve those working practices. What we delivered was a customised version of CaSS, our Clients and Services System. Because CaSS is web-based, RF staff around the country can securely access it at any time. All they need is a laptop with an Internet connection. All data is centralised on a single database that we designed and built, so that CaSS’s sophisticated reporting facility provides the latest up-to-the minute data to all levels of the organisation, from head office to front-line staff. RF continue to use CaSS today as a core organisational tool, and Maldaba continue to support RF and help the organisation as it changes and grows.