Licensed Trade Charity

Why it works

A calm green-and-white palette avoids the guilt-driven red-and-black look many charity sites default to, making the tone feel supportive rather than alarming. The 24/7 helpline number is placed prominently near the top of the page, so someone in crisis doesn't have to hunt for how to get help. Real photography of bar and hospitality staff — the actual people the charity serves — replaces generic stock imagery, and simple icon cards break support options into wellbeing, financial, and practical help so visitors self-sort quickly.

Who should look at this

Non-profits and support organisations who want their homepage to prioritise getting a visitor to help fast over telling their own history first.

Signature technique

The helpline phone number and a 'find help now' path sit above general mission content in the page's visual hierarchy, so urgent visitors reach an action before they reach persuasion.

How the page is built

1. Navigation bar. A round logo sits beside five main menus and a search button, followed by three separately coloured buttons, coral 'Donate', amber 'Contact' and dark green 'Platform login', and a phone icon for the round-the-clock helpline.
2. Headline and eligibility. 'Supporting people in licensed hospitality every day' sits over an amber underline and two short paragraphs explaining who may be eligible, with an outlined 'Get in contact now' button.
3. Two route cards. 'Need help?' and 'Want to get involved?' sit side by side as white cards over a tilted pale green panel and a warm pub photograph, each with its own 'Find out more' link.
4. Who do we help?. A tilted photograph of a woman holding a handwritten sign in a bar sits beside text naming the roles covered, from bartenders and brewers to servers and sous chefs.
5. Ways we can help. Wellbeing support, financial wellbeing and practical advice are introduced as three separate services, each with its own explanation.

Look and feel

A soft cream page with deep forest-green headings, tilted pale green panels and photographs set at a slight angle, with warm coral and amber on the buttons. Real people in real pubs and a rounded, friendly typeface make a serious subject feel kind and approachable.

Where it might not fit

The header carries five menus, three coloured buttons, a search button and a phone icon, which is busy for someone who may be in distress and needs one clear route. The paragraph under the headline is also long for a reader in that state.

What to borrow

• Split the first screen into the two questions visitors arrive with, such as 'Need help?' and 'Want to get involved?', each in its own card with a single link.
• Tilt photographs and their coloured panels slightly, so a serious subject feels warm and human instead of institutional.
• Give each important action its own colour, such as donate in coral, contact in amber and login in dark green, so they can be told apart at a glance.

Brief your developer

“I want a cream page with deep green headings, a warm photograph set at a slight angle on a pale green panel, two white cards offering the two main routes, 'Need help?' and 'Want to get involved?', and separate coloured buttons for donate and contact.”

Want a full version for your own site? Get the brief.

How should a charity website route two very different visitors?

The Licensed Trade Charity asks two questions in two side-by-side cards, 'Need help?' and 'Want to get involved?', each with one 'Find out more' link, directly beside the headline. Someone seeking help and someone wanting to volunteer both see their path at once. Ask the questions your visitors are actually carrying.

How do I make a serious subject feel warm?

The charity sets real people in real bars at a slight tilt on soft green panels, uses a rounded typeface on a cream background and writes in the second person, with lines such as 'You are not alone'. The tone is calm and kind rather than clinical. Use real photographs of your own community instead of stock images.