A robust and secure digital solution for one of England’s most experienced providers of children’s social care

About Five Rivers Child Care

Founded in 1989, Five Rivers Child Care is a leading UK provider of practitioner-led services for vulnerable children. Working with over 100 local authorities, they offer foster care, residential care, education, therapy and crisis intervention, helping young people recover from trauma and reach their full potential.

The brief

Over the course of Summer 2024, we took over the management of ten distinct websites for the organisation, each playing a vital role in supporting Five Rivers outreach, recruitment and engagement efforts.

Five Rivers needed a trusted digital partner to help modernise the websites, each presenting its own unique set of challenges. Our initial challenge was to enhance the user experience across all sites, and deliver scalable, secure and easy-to-manage solutions. This included re-platforming the hosting approach, and evolving the CMS’s with new components and functionality.

200,000 Page views
81,000 Active users engaged
3.76 million Total impressions
500,000 User interactions
These results are based on July 2024 - June 2025 for the Five Rivers website.

Our approach

Following an in-depth onboarding phase, we took over the management of all ten websites and initiated a carefully planned strategy focused on performance and user experience, as well as code review and quality analysis.

Upgrading the hosting infrastructure

To improve speed, uptime and scalability, we migrated all websites to a modern, cloud-based hosting environment. This migration improved overall performance and provides a robust foundation for future enhancements, with improved security, resilience and disaster recovery.

Evolving the CMS

We audited the existing CMS setups across all sites, identifying areas for improvement and consolidation. We replaced third-party plugin dependencies with bespoke code where appropriate, enhancing long-term stability and maintainability. Our refinements also streamlined content workflows, enabling internal teams to manage website edits and updates more efficiently.

Creating clear documentation

To support ongoing maintenance, we produced comprehensive technical documentation. This ensures the Five Rivers team can confidently manage and scale their platforms with clarity and independence.

Enhancing design and user experience

In close collaboration with the Five Rivers team, we continue to introduce updated visual elements and refine user journeys. These improvements deliver a more cohesive, accessible and engaging experience across all sites.

Future foundation

Our partnership with Five Rivers Child Care continues to grow as we support them in their mission to turn children’s lives around. By modernising their digital infrastructure and user experience, we’ve helped lay the foundation for future outreach, engagement and impact.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive - Five Rivers has told us that working with our team has been a marked improvement. They’ve appreciated our prompt response times and hands‑on problem‑solving approach. It’s a great demonstration of how a successful agency client partnership should work. We share Five Rivers’ passion and commitment for their vital work, and their dedication fuels our own. The websites are essential to their mission, and we’re proud to play an integral role in ensuring smooth, reliable digital operations.

"We chose Salad because their values and ethos align well with ours. Their team are excellent communicators and at every touch point have been customer-centric; they also excel at simplifying complex technical information."

Lisa Reffell
Head of Marketing and Communications

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