Case Study:
TLC: Talk, Listen, Change
TLC: Talk, Listen, Change has a mission to ensure everyone has safe, healthy and happy relationships in Greater Manchester. They have used the Charity Digital Code of Practice to review what they do with digital and change the way they work. They’ve learnt that it’s not all about doing new things, it’s about finding new ways of using what they already have.
"Our ambition and practice haven’t always matched up and the Code made us go back to basics."
Michelle Hill
CEO, TLC: Talk, Listen, Change and Code Champion
The Challenge
TLC used the Digital Code to look at what they were already doing and found that most of their digital work was external. They were using social media to communicate, but their case recording was still all done with pens and paper. Like many charities, they were frustrated that most of the funding for digital projects was focused on apps and innovation, rather than day-to-day needs for real charities. Chief Executive Officer Michelle Hill said:
“Our ambition and practice haven’t always matched up and the Code helped us go back to basics.”
The Solution
TLC took the advice of the strategy section of the Charity Digital Code of Practice. Instead of developing a digital strategy, they looked at how digital could be incorporated throughout their overall organisational strategy. Rather than going out and buying new digital packages, they looked at how they could make better use of the tools they already had. They worked closely with their staff to improve their skills and to help them understand how using digital could help them do their jobs and make their services better.
The Results
By taking a strategic approach to digital, TLC found that they could do their work more effectively and more efficiently. For example, they found that using online systems and automation would effectively save around six days a month of their Finance Officer’s time. It’s only by taking the time to consider digital as part of their overall strategy that they were able to achieve this. The team have incorporated the Charity Digital code into their 2025 strategy to continue this work strategically and operationally and now have a series of 4 digital hackathons diarised for the coming year.
