Altrincham Youth Choir
INTRO
Altrincham Youth Choir (AYC) is a brand-new community choir founded by vocal leader Cally Youdell and pianist Simon Passmore, set up to give young singers aged 7 to 18 across Trafford and Greater Manchester a relaxed, non-auditioned space to sing.
When Cally got in touch, they were starting completely from a blank sheet: a brilliant musical concept and a date for their first "Come & Sing" workshop in December, but no logo, no print materials, and no website.
The goal wasn't just to put together a standard brochure site. A youth organisation has very specific, practical demands: parents need to trust the setup immediately, weekly rehearsal logistics must be simple to find, and the entire booking journey (from buying a £15 workshop ticket to paying term fees and submitting medical and emergency details) needs to work effortlessly on a phone while standing on the school run.
My job was to build the whole ecosystem from scratch: designing the visual identity and launch poster, engineering a multi-page Squarespace build with custom CSS, and setting up an automated ticketing and member onboarding pipeline that Cally can run without touching any code.
ABOUT Altrincham Youth Choir
Filter is built around a simple idea: "the ease of an agency with the dedication of an independent freelancer." Jonathan acts as the filter between the client and the specialist freelancers needed for each job. Naturally, this new venture needed its own online home, and that’s where this journey started.
Filter grew out of the natural expansion of iso800. With Filter taking the lead on complete visual strategies for sustainable businesses, iso800 can return to its roots in dedicated photography and video production. Depending on the scope of each brief, Jonathan brings together hand-picked specialists (from brand designers to web developers) to create one cohesive, beautifully aligned visual identity. The client gets the benefit of an entire creative team guided by Jonathan, without ever having to juggle multiple freelancers themselves.
WHAT Cally NEEDED
The practical brief went far beyond a basic five-page website—it had to function as the choir's full operational engine from day one:
A distinct visual identity: A bespoke brand mark and print-ready poster to launch the Come & Sing Day across local schools and community noticeboards.
Two separate booking streams: A simple e-commerce ticket checkout for the £15 one-off launch day, alongside a recurring digital pricing plan (£150/term) with Klarna instalment options for weekly choir members.
A secure Member Area (Choir Hub): A password-protected portal where parents and singers can log in to check rehearsal schedules, download sheet music, and listen to rehearsal tracks.
Safeguarding & singer intake: Clear online hosting for Child Protection, terms, and photo consent policies, paired with an unlinked parent registration form to capture medical notes and collection permissions before the first rehearsal.
Bespoke visual touches: Custom CSS styling to highlight key rehearsal details, format clean timetable tables, and keep mobile menus easy to tap.
Local search visibility: A solid Google foundation (Analytics, Search Console, structured schema, and a Google Business Profile) so local parents searching for singing groups in Altrincham and Sale actually find them.
A burnout-proof handover: A clean backend setup that allows Cally to manage member rosters, update dates, and swap text without having to call a developer or worry about breaking code.
The trickiest part of a project like this is handling parent onboarding without creating mountains of manual paperwork. If a parent pays for a term membership, they shouldn't have to chase for next steps. The system needed to take the payment, create their member account, and instantly deliver the safeguarding and registration form in a single automated loop.
WHAT I CREATED
Brand Identity & Launch Poster
I started by designing a clean, vector monogram emblem featuring an Altrincham bee integrated with the AYC initials. Using this visual anchor, I typeset and artworked the official Come & Sing Day promotional poster, formatted for both high-resolution A4/A3 print runs and square digital crops for social media.
Bespoke Squarespace Build & Custom Styling
I structured a clear 15-page layout covering the core navigation (Home, Come & Sing Day, Join AYC, Support Us, Meet the Team, Contact) alongside a dedicated legal suite for safeguarding compliance. To make the site feel warm and polished rather than template-driven, I wrote custom CSS to add rounded brand-gold highlight badges behind key text, format timetable spacing cleanly, adjust directional button layouts, and integrate a streamlined newsletter signup.
Ticketing, Member Hub & Automated Intake
I set up Squarespace Commerce for the £15 Come & Sing tickets, and built a secure, paywalled "Choir Hub" using Squarespace Member Sites for the £155 Spring Term membership. To eliminate admin headaches, I customised the post-purchase automated notification emails so that the moment a parent registers, they receive full first-rehearsal details and a direct link to complete the online Singer Registration form before week one.
Technical Search Setup & GEO Schema
To help the new domain climb local search rankings quickly, I configured Google Analytics (GA4), verified Google Search Console, and submitted the sitemap. I injected custom JSON-LD schema markup across the header, defining AYC as an educational performing group, detailing the 5 December workshop as a structured Event, and formatting core FAQs for generative AI search engines. Finally, I set up and verified the choir’s Google Business Profile to ensure local visibility across Altrincham, Hale, Bowdon, and Trafford.
Highlights
Complete brand identity & print collateral: Bespoke AYC bee monogram logo and print-ready launch posters designed from scratch.
Multi-tier booking architecture: E-commerce event ticketing for workshops alongside a secure, paywalled Choir Hub for term members.
Automated parent onboarding: Custom transactional email workflows that automatically direct parents to the online registration and safeguarding forms upon booking.
Custom front-end CSS: Bespoke mobile navigation sizing, brand text highlights, timetable styling, and tailored newsletter blocks.
Safeguarding-first structure: Full suite of legal and participation policies integrated alongside a 10-section digital parent intake form.
Full local search & GEO setup: GA4, Search Console indexing, JSON-LD schema (Organisation, Event, FAQ), and an official Google Business Profile.
Total client ownership: A clear, manageable backend allowing Cally to update dates, post news, and upload rehearsal music in minutes without touching code.
From scratch to launch: a complete digital home, booking flow, and member hub for Altrincham Youth Choir.
Fullly Optimised & Tested to run smoothly on Mobile
WHAT Cally SAID
“(quote coming)”
