Rainbows Ireland

Project Overview

Rainbows Ireland supports children and young people affected by bereavement and parental separation.
Their work is delivered through a network of centres, coordinators and facilitators throughout Ireland.

iWorks was engaged to modernise both the organisation’s public web presence and its internal operational
systems. The result was a two-part solution: a clear, accessible front-end WordPress website and a
bespoke backend control panel tailored to the day-to-day needs of the organisation.

The Challenge

Before the new system was introduced, Rainbows relied heavily on manual processes and a legacy Microsoft Access database. Data had become fragmented, some relationships between records had broken over time, and core administrative tasks placed significant pressure on staff.

The organisation needed a single platform that could:

replace outdated manual and database-driven processes
manage centres, personnel, courses, programmes and orders in one place
support coordinators through structured workflows
improve reporting and year-end data collection
track safeguarding and compliance information
reduce duplication and unnecessary administration

The Solution

iWorks designed and developed a bespoke control panel with role-based access for administrators and coordinators, alongside a fully functional WordPress website for the public-facing side of the organisation.

Public Website

responsive WordPress website
clear information architecture for families and stakeholders
accessibility-focused design and implementation
aligned with the organisation’s identity and public messaging

iWorks delivered a fully integrated digital platform for Rainbows Ireland, combining a public-facing WordPress website with a bespoke operational control panel used to manage centres, personnel, programmes, reporting, compliance and communications across a national organisation.

Operational Control Panel

administrator and coordinator user roles
centre management
personnel management
programme and group setup
training and course administration
resource and stationery ordering
office file management and document storage
search, filtering, audit logs and dashboard reporting

Key Features

Programme management — set up programmes, assign facilitators, track attendance and weekly group records.
Automated forms — secure links for parents and guardians, with PDF generation and email copies for coordinators.
Digital signatures — signatures captured on forms and applied to finished PDFs.
Week 3 and Week 7 reporting — milestone forms triggered automatically for service review and year-end reporting.
Compliance tracking — Garda Vetting and Child Protection dates visible for personnel.
Orders and resources — centres place orders; administrators process them centrally.
Files and audit trails — structured uploads and modification logs.

Data Migration

A significant part of the project involved migrating legacy data from Microsoft Access into a new MySQL structure. This required careful analysis of the old system, rebuilding tables and relationships, and resolving issues caused by incomplete or broken legacy records.

iWorks developed scripts and import processes to bring across relevant data while cleaning and restructuring it for use in the new platform.

Outcome

Rainbows Ireland now has a centralised platform that supports both public engagement and internal operations.

reduced dependence on manual workflows centralised operational data improved reporting capabilities better visibility over compliance more efficient programme administration scalable platform for future growth

Ongoing Support

iWorks continues to support Rainbows Ireland with ongoing development, maintenance and refinement of both the website and the control panel.

“Cormac at iWorks has supported our organisation for the past three years, and his contribution has been invaluable. He has built our bespoke CRM system from the ground up and continues to provide exceptional support to our team in our small but national NGO.”

— Geraldine Kelly, CEO, Rainbows Ireland