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Blue Pits Housing Action

Proving that charities don't need to pay agency rip-off prices for effective websites

Blue Pits is a CQC-registered personal care provider and social housing provider, based in Rochdale, Middleton and Heywood since 2011. I've been their technical consultant for over 14 years, helping them navigate everything from website changes to GDPR compliance.

The Blue Pits homepage, showing a simple blue theme with mostly text and a prominent Care Quality Commission "Good" rating.

Big cost savings

Web agencies quoted Blue Pits £2500+ for a basic website - typical rip-off pricing when they see a "big organisation" and assume unlimited budgets. The reality? This website would cost £600-800 at my discounted charity rates (£100/hour at 50% off) and takes 6-8 hours of actual work.

Monthly hosting costs £20 (again, 50% charity discount) for unlimited sites. Compare that to what most charities pay for inferior hosting and you'll see the difference transparent pricing makes.

My solution

I've set up a streamlined process where Blue Pits send me their site updates via email. Content changes typically go live within 24 hours - much faster than the weeks most agencies take. I recently added a custom complaint form using FormSpark with BotPoison spam protection, making it easier for their clients to get in touch.

Beyond just hosting, I advise them on tech choices and have helped them navigate GDPR compliance, hardware/software decisions, and cost-saving opportunities. While they ended up with Microsoft licensing through another provider (before I was freelancing full-time), I'm always helping them cut costs and stay secure.

The setup is simple but effective - they handle the housing, I handle the website. No complicated CMS logins to remember or technical knowledge needed on their end.

Technical details

The site is a static "Jekyll" website that works great on mobile and meets WCAG2 accessibility guidelines. It includes integration with Facebook and CQC widgets for social proof.

The domain is hosted with Web Architects Co-op, an ethical cooperative provider. The site itself runs on a Gandi machine powered by green energy, with the build handled by a Forgejo action on NixOS. For redundancy, I back everything up via Git to both GitHub and my own Forgejo setup.

Support model & long-term relationship

I've been working with Blue Pits for over a decade - since the charity started - and with the organisation it grew from (Newbarn Ltd) for over two decades. This long-term relationship means I understand their sector deeply and can give advice that's actually useful.

Blue Pits just emails me when they need changes, and I sort them out quickly. They're always thankful for how quickly changes get implemented and how I break down technical concepts into simple language without pushing them toward expensive solutions they don't need.

The site only needs a few content updates each year, so this approach works perfectly. When questions come up about website privacy, security, GDPR compliance, or other tech issues, I'm there to explain everything in plain language - not technical jargon designed to confuse.

Want a website for your charity?

The website gives Blue Pits an easy way to be clear about eligibility criteria and share all the information they're legally required to publish. For housing associations and care providers, this kind of transparency builds trust with potential residents and funding bodies.

I would be completely transparent about the work involved for any charity project. The source code would be open source, hosting costs would be minimal, and I'd give honest advice without pushing you toward expensive solutions.

It's possible to save significant money if you're conscious about how your organisation uses technology - this is even more important for charities working on tight budgets.

Open source

As with all my projects, the complete source code is available under the AGPL license, helping other charities and developers learn from my work.

Is your charity paying too much for an inadequate website? Want honest advice about your tech setup without the sales pressure? Contact me to discuss how I can help your organisation save money and work more effectively online.