Rogerwilco helps build a better future for Umthombo Youth Development Foundation

Nelson Mandela (or more fondly, Madiba), famously said: “It always seems impossible until it's done”. These words breed familiarity for us here at Rogerwilco, as we’re always willing to take on a challenge, no matter the vastness. So, when the opportunity presented itself for us to execute a project that would celebrate Mandela Day and add to our ‘67 minutes’, we grabbed it with both hands, or should I say about 40-odd pairs of hands. 

To express our gratitude, we chose to assist the Umthombo Youth Development Foundation (UYDF) in rebuilding their website, to improve efficiency and create an easy to manage platform for their current, prospective and past students. UYDF supports the vast rate of unemployment in South Africa by identifying, training and supporting young students who wish to pursue careers in the medical industry. These opportunities have proven to be challenging due to the lack of resources and funding needed.

“Our website is often the first interaction people have with our organisation and it simply wasn't telling the story of how we've helped over 300 rural youth qualify as healthcare graduates – including 133 doctors," says Dr Gavin MacGregor, director of the Umthombo Youth Development Foundation.

As an agency driven by technology, and our ability to help businesses succeed online, this seemed like the perfect project for us. We analysed their existing website and implemented the best possible solutions to ensure that the Foundation was represented in the most trustworthy, innovative and reputable manner. 

Having the chance to work with an organisation which already does incredible work in our broader community meant that we were able to positively help people, help others. It goes without saying that in our industry, success is tantamount to the hard work and dedication we put in. And it took nothing less than an internal kick-off meeting to become excited about working as a unit on this project. 

This opportunity encouraged the different departments to work together and ensure the best possible solution was granted to them. Everybody (literally everybody - our boardroom was packed to the rafters) jumped on board to help, and this proved that birds of a feather really do flock together. 

As an agency, we do our best and ensure that briefs are carefully and accurately executed. And this time was no different. Driven by management, our traffic team carefully mapped out the plan of action. Our development team, well, developed the website, our business intelligence team provided best practice solutions for the new and improved website, our creative teams produced beautiful visuals, our content writing team tweaked the content on the website, and our client service team made a concerted effort to ensure that everyone knew exactly what they needed to do. It was a harmonious, and remarkably pleasant, experience to work with such a determined group of talented individuals. 

"We were thrilled that Rogerwilco saw our appeal on ‘For Good’ and offered their support. They've redesigned our site, restructured our Google grant-funded ad campaign and helped us really understand who's interacting with us online. This will help us extend our mentoring programme to more youths and better expose us to the corporates and foundations on whose donations we rely on. The Rogerwilco team have really lived up to the Mandela Day challenge and have done their bit to make Umthombo world a better place." 

Touching on Madiba’s quote again, the enormity of this project did, for moments, seem impossible. But because of our diligent nature, we worked our magic to ensure that, without a doubt, we would get this done. There’s nothing more cathartic than being involved in a stream of hard work that not only benefits the rapport of individuals with one another, but it also encouraged us to express our skills. Together, we were able to execute a project that has given us an immense feeling of pride and granted us the opportunity to reach out and aid the greater community. 

Visit the new site at www.umthomboyouth.org.za