About This Project
Eskra Community Association (ECA) is a volunteer-led umbrella organisation that acts as the backbone for community activities and services across the Eskra area. Through participation in the STRIDE Programme, the Association identified critical administrative challenges related to facility bookings, public communication, volunteer collaboration, and centralised access to information. Managing bookings for diverse users such as the Youth Club, Indoor Bowls Club, Martial Arts Group, Football Club, and Knockmany Running Club had become a manual burden. The agreed digital solution focused on designing a modern community website paired with a digital booking platform to simplify operations, reduce volunteer workload, and create a single digital hub for the Eskra community.
Design Thinking Workshops
A 1-day STRIDE Design Thinking Workshop was held at the Eskra Community Centre, attended by 8 participants representing the Association, community centre users, Playtime Eskra, Knockmany Running Club, and the Friends of St Patrick’s Parent Association.
The workshop engaged participants in user journey mapping, challenge definition, ideation, prototype creation, and solution testing. This co-design process revealed the necessity of a centralised information hub. After the workshop, the project moved into solution design, research, evaluation, and website development, directly targeting the pain points identified by volunteers and facility users.
Deliverables
STRIDE deliverables included:
• A modern community website acting as a single source of truth for facilities, events, history, governance, and contact details.
• An integrated digital booking and availability solution for facility management.
• Public events and availability calendars.
• Contact forms and email integration for centralised enquiries.
• Google Maps integration for easy navigation to the centre.
• Stripe-ready payment integration capability, while ensuring traditional BACS and cash payment processes were retained to maintain financial inclusivity.
Results & Impact
The transformation project provided Eskra Community Association with a scalable digital foundation to support future facility enhancements, heritage initiatives, and additional services.
Technically, the new digital booking and availability solution dramatically improves the visibility of facility usage and reduces the risk of double bookings.
On a community level, the platform significantly reduces the association’s reliance on individual volunteers by introducing structured, transparent digital processes. Community members now feel more confident when interacting with the association, benefiting from clear booking guidance, easily accessible information, and a single point of contact for enquiries. Ultimately, the project improved organisational resilience by ensuring clearer governance information and public visibility of activities, strengthening the community network in Eskra.