Help for Heroes 'My Recovery' Portal

Making critical support more accessible.

Help for Heroes exists to provide lifesaving support to veterans when they need it most. But while the charity’s services were exceptional, the process for accessing them wasn’t. 

Veterans struggled to engage with the system, leading to delays in getting help, inefficiencies in referrals, and a frustrating experience for those in need. Help for Heroes needed a better, faster, and more intuitive way for beneficiaries to request and receive support. 

That’s where Giant Digital came in, to reimagine the entire experience and build a cutting-edge digital beneficiary portal that would bridge the gap between self-help and referral. 

Creating a veteran-centric digital experience.

We knew we couldn’t design the perfect solution in isolation, so we went straight to the people who mattered most: 

• Stakeholder interviews: engaging with charity staff, referrers, and veterans to understand pain points and inefficiencies. 
• User research: speaking directly with beneficiaries to identify how they accessed support and what improvements would make the biggest difference. 
• Digital experience mapping: designing seamless user journeys that cut through complexity and reduced wait times. 

The mission? Reduce the time it takes for veterans to access help from weeks to days, while creating a platform that felt empowering, intuitive, and accessible. 

A faster, smarter, more accessible support platform.

Using the insights gathered during discovery, we designed a highly intuitive, accessible, and future-proofed digital portal that streamlined every step of the beneficiary journey. 

• Mapping every route to support: we identified and optimised the various ways veterans access Help for Heroes, ensuring no one fell through the cracks. 
• Seamless referral system: we enhanced existing referrals by providing real-time updates for both referrers and referees, creating a more transparent, efficient process. 
• Custom calendar system: using HTMX, we built a fully accessible calendar frontend that integrates with third-party systems, making it easier for veterans to book events and appointments. 
• Powerful API integration: a custom API system allows data to move seamlessly between multiple Help for Heroes digital platforms, ensuring a smooth user experience. 
• Dynamic form builder: we created a custom question/answer form builder, allowing veterans to tailor their support journey based on individual needs. 

The impact? A revolutionary shift, reducing the time it takes for veterans to receive help from 3–4 weeks to just 3–4 days. 

The launch of the new Help for Heroes Beneficiary Portal has been a game-changer. By making support faster, simplier, and more intuitive, we didn't just improve the experience for veterans, we created a platform that will continue to evolve and support the Armed Forces community into the future.

This project wasn’t just about fixing inefficiencies, it was about creating a scalable, veteran-first platform that allows Help for Heroes to continue delivering vital support in the digital age. 

By combining human-centred design, intelligent automation, and seamless integrations, we built a platform that empowers veterans, streamlines referrals, and makes support more accessible than ever.