At a glance
| Client | National Emergencies Trust |
|---|---|
| Sector | Charity and non-profit, community preparedness |
| Service | AI Software Development |
| Our role | Digital planning, platform development, technical integration, launch and agentic media monitoring |
| Research partner | Nottingham Trent University |
| Platform | readytogether.co.uk |
| Launched | 6 October 2026, Ilminster, Somerset |
Why did the National Emergencies Trust need a digital platform?
Communities already have people, skills and relationships they can draw on during an emergency. Ready Together helps them recognise those strengths and plan how to use them.
The National Emergencies Trust (NET) needed a platform that made research and practical guidance easy for community groups to use. It had to support people with different levels of digital confidence, limited time and different starting points.
A sports club might begin by thinking about its premises and equipment. A residents' group might focus on communications or supporting people with additional needs. Each needed a clear route to practical action.
The project brought together several contributors. NET led the programme, Nottingham Trent University supplied research and written guidance, and the creative team supplied branding. Our responsibility was to turn those inputs into a working digital service.
What did Insightful AI build?
We developed the Ready Together toolkit around eight areas of community preparedness: communications, events, finances, places, skills, supplies, supporting people with additional needs and working with the community. Explore the Ready Together toolkit
People can start with the topic that matters most to them, work at their own pace and return whenever they need to. The core toolkit is free to use without an account.
For groups wanting to develop a plan over time, we built My Ready Together. This optional account area allows users to:
- Sign in through an email link, without creating a password
- Build and save their community plan
- Record progress across the toolkit
- Return later to update their work
- Download a plan as a PDF, with their group's logo
The downloadable plan gives groups something they can print and share locally, taking their preparation beyond the website.
How did privacy and usability shape the product?
People can use the public toolkit without registering. An account is only needed to save work and use the personal planning features.
Account setup, communications preferences and research participation are separate choices. Optional analytics record defined interactions without collecting the text people write in their plans.
We developed the platform for mobile and desktop use, with consistent navigation and page layouts. Production checks covered signing in, saving work, generating PDFs and deleting accounts. Separate-account testing checked that users could not access each other's plans.
How did people direct the AI-assisted development?
We combined hands-on development with AI coding tools throughout the project. Our team shaped the solution, directed implementation, reviewed outputs and resolved issues.
A shared knowledge base first. We organised 16 project files and 15 meeting records into a shared knowledge base. AI helped review the material, extract requirements and highlight gaps. We checked those findings against the sources and worked through the decisions needed to create a clear delivery plan.
A brief for every page and feature. Each brief covered its purpose, approved content, design and expected behaviour. The briefs gave the coding tools specific tasks and gave our team a consistent basis for reviewing the results.
From prototype to production. We used AI to help develop the prototype, then reviewed and refined its layouts and user journeys. Moving into production required technical decisions about hosting, accounts, data storage, privacy and how the services connected.
Implement, inspect, test, correct. Development followed a repeated cycle. We directed code changes, checked their effect on the wider platform and worked through problems as they emerged. Different AI tools provided additional code and security reviews. Our team assessed the findings, directed corrections and checked the resulting behaviour. Automated tests supported this work alongside manual checks on the live service.
Human judgement remained central throughout. Our team retained responsibility for technical decisions and release approval. NET and Nottingham Trent University retained their respective roles in programme leadership, research and content.
How did agentic media monitoring support the launch?
We also set up an AI media-monitoring agent in monday.com to help NET's communications team track coverage of the launch.
The agent searches for new coverage, records articles in a shared board and checks whether they link to readytogether.co.uk. Scheduled scans update the tracker and flag coverage where a link is missing. This gives the communications team a practical list of opportunities to ask publishers to add a link, helping readers find and use the toolkit.
The board also tracks outreach status, so team members can see which outlets have already been contacted and avoid duplicating work. The agent supports discovery and tracking, while NET's communications team manages journalist relationships and decides which opportunities to pursue.
What were the results?
| Measure | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Community preparedness guidance | Research and written guidance | A free public toolkit across eight areas, usable without an account |
| Community plans | New for this programme | Built, saved and tracked online, then downloaded as a PDF with the group's logo |
| Launch coverage found | Not compared | 56 of 66 items found automatically across 15 scheduled scans in the first 24 hours |
| Coverage without a link | Not compared | 48 items flagged as naming Ready Together without a link |
| Time per scan | Not compared | About four minutes, from search to updated board |
Media monitoring figures come from the Ready Press Coverage board and automation log, 6 to 7 October 2026.
What the client said
Ready Together has been built with communities, for communities. It's a free toolkit designed to help community groups prepare, plan and work together for whatever comes next.
What does the platform give NET and community groups?
Ready Together went live ahead of its national programme launch, bringing public guidance and community planning tools together in one platform.
Community groups can now move from reading guidance to developing a plan, saving their progress and producing a copy to share. They can begin with a manageable task and build on it over time.
NET has a working digital service for its preparedness programme, connected enquiry handling and usage measurement to inform future improvements. The media-monitoring agent supports the communications team in tracking coverage and identifying opportunities to direct more readers to the platform.
The project demonstrates how human-led, AI-assisted development can significantly reduce delivery time while keeping technical decisions, review and accountability with people. Visit Ready Together and start preparing with your community
What we learned
Briefs make AI output reviewable. A defined brief for every page and feature gave the coding tools a specific task and gave our team a fixed standard to check the result against.
Keep the account optional. The toolkit works without registering. An account is only there for groups that want to save a plan and come back to it.
Let the agent find, and let people decide. The media-monitoring agent handles discovery and tracking. NET's communications team keeps the journalist relationships and chooses which opportunities to pursue.
Who is this for?
We help organisations turn research, guidance and working processes into practical software. This approach suits:
- Charities and programmes turning research into a public toolkit
- Organisations whose users need to save their work and return to it
- Services used by people with different levels of digital confidence
- Communications teams that need to track coverage around a launch