Engage4 – vzw Heder (Robbe & Romain)

Welcome to the blog post of our ‘Hout-vast web shop’ project! In this blog, we will share information about our volunteer project for ‘vzw Heder’, which began at the end of September. We were able to help, advise, and contribute to the Heder future thanks to the hard work and dedication of our team, as well as the assistance of the Heder employees. We hope that by sharing our experiences and lessons learned, we will be able to inspire others to get involved in volunteer work and make a positive impact on the community. This project was made possible by Engage4. Engage4 build bridges between companies and non-profit organizations by sharing knowledge. It offers a unique approach to develop a consistent project work.

Let’s start by introducing our team. We were a small team consisting of 2 Lytix employees: Robbe Volders and Romain Neuville. It all began with the Engage4 workshop, where we had to decide which project was the best fit for us. We met some Heder employees there. Heder is a non-profit organization that listens carefully to people who have a motor and/or intellectual disability, a neuromuscular disorder, or an acquired brain injury. If you’re curious, here’s a video that explains the scope of Heder: https://youtu.be/BDWQMK5oQYM. We were immediately seduced and motivated when they explained their project, the goal of which is to create a web shop for wood products made by people with disabilities.

Robbe was in charge of web development. This includes designing and building the website as well as implementing any updates or enhancements. Web development is not an easy task for those with no prior experience. But did you know that, in addition to being a Data & Analytics Consultant, Robbe is also a web developer in his spare time? Problem solved in this case! 😉 Romain was in charge of the content creation for the web shop. He created interesting and informative content such as blog posts, videos, and photos.

One of the most significant challenges, in our opinion, is digitalization. With the explosion of online sales, having a web shop is becoming increasingly important. It is also advantageous for increasing their visibility. However, this type of project is difficult to establish for non-profit organizations. This project was not only about creating a website, but we also had the opportunity to visit the workshop where they make their products and meet them. We were moved by each of their stories after the meetings in Antwerp. We could see them smiling, laughing, collaborating, and having a good time while working with wood. Therefore, we knew that the web shop was important for them, and it could help them increase their activity by having a new visibility. We also hope that it will help in their development and will increase their turnover. In the end, it was a social engagement project.

This was a wonderful experience with an exciting topic. We had a social impact throughout the entire project. This gave us a lot of motivation. It is always easier to climb mountains when you are motivated. We hope you enjoy the entire website and have the opportunity to order these fantastic products. We’d like to thank Heder for this incredible project, Engage4 for all the logistics, and our company Lytix for allowing us to fully commit to the creation of the Hout-Vast web shop.

Link to the web shop: https://hout-vast.be/

Robbe Volders & Romain Neuville
Data & Analytics Consultants @ Lytix