Background
Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) is a leading UK and international charity dedicated to uniting people and expertise in the fight against meningitis and septicaemia. Since its foundation in 1989, MRF has funded vital research into prevention, diagnosis and treatment while raising awareness and supporting individuals and families affected by these life-threatening diseases.
Due to the fast-acting nature of meningitis and septicaemia, instant access to reliable information is essential. Historically, print leaflets were used as the primary resource for symptom awareness, but demand for digital resources has significantly increased, requiring an online presence which meets the needs of a diverse audience.
The challenge
Meningitis Research Foundation’s website plays a crucial role in its digital presence. Given the severity of the disease and the importance of early diagnosis, site performance is vital, and instant access to information is a top priority. Their previous website was not optimised for mobile, despite mobile users accounting for 60-70% of site traffic, making crucial health advice difficult to access. Additionally, technical constraints impacted the site’s visual appeal and caused slow load times, negatively affecting user experience.
The website also occasionally experiences peaks in traffic due to awareness campaigns or news reports about clusters of the disease. During these times, the number of people trying to access the website surges, and the charity needs increased IT power and capacity to handle this increase in traffic.
The solution
Our design agency partner Delete recommended Hyve to MRF and we were able to start discussions and provide the infrastructure, performance and security that they needed.
Our team of systems architects and highly trained engineers work with MRF to tailor the best possible solution for their needs. Due to the humanitarian nature of the charity’s work, we offer our services to MRF with a generous charity discount.
MRF is now able to take advantage of a faster and more efficient website that provides greater response times than ever before. On average, the website is now experiencing load times of 684ms – far below the median of other sites, at 749ms – allowing visitors to reach the information they need without difficulty.
Site security has also increased, which is a vital asset when dealing with account and payment information connected to online donations.
Hear from Meningitis Research Foundation
“We’re extremely grateful to Hyve for hosting our new, improved website. Meningitis and septicaemia are deadly diseases that strike without warning. It’s crucial for people to be able to quickly access our lifesaving information, and we can already see that hosting the website with Hyve is helping significantly with that.”
Rob Dawson, Head of Communications at Meningitis Research Foundation
