Putting People First: How LilyAnne’s Wellbeing Is Using AI to Strengthen Support in Hartlepool
- Trevor Sherwood
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
At LilyAnne’s Wellbeing, our mission has always been simple: put people first and we are leading the way within the charity sector when it comes to AI Innovation.
Every day, we support individuals experiencing mental health challenges, loneliness, isolation, and emotional distress. We offer counselling, wellbeing support, safe spaces, and community connection across Hartlepool. As demand for our services has grown, so too has the amount of administration required behind the scenes.
Like many grassroots charities, we reached a point where paperwork was starting to compete with people.
We knew something had to change.
Why We Looked to Technology
Over the past year, LilyAnne’s Wellbeing has been working in partnership with an AI-focused Community Interest Company to redesign how our back-office systems operate.
This was never about replacing staff or reducing jobs, and roles have all remained in place.
It was about protecting staff time, improving wellbeing, and making sure our energy goes where it matters most: supporting people.
An independent AI audit showed that our team members were effectively carrying out workloads equivalent to an average of 13 administrative roles each. Thousands of hours every year were being spent on repetitive tasks such as:
Processing referrals
Sending emails
Booking appointments
Inputting data
Chasing forms
Updating records
This level of administrative burden was unsustainable and risked increasing burnout.
Designing Better Systems Together
Working collaboratively, we have now designed and implemented new digital systems that:
Automatically manage referrals
Book appointments instantly
Capture essential information securely
Allocate clients to appropriate team members
Flag safeguarding needs
Maintain accurate records
The impact has been significant.
Previously, it could take up to three weeks for a referral to be processed and allocated. Today, many clients are connected with a suitable team member within hours of their referral.
Onboarding that once took around three hours of staff administration time per client now takes minutes.
That time has been handed back to our team.
Introducing Lily-Bot
On Christmas Eve 2025, we launched Lily-Bot, our digital wellbeing assistant.
Since launch, Lily-Bot has already supported more than 60 people by:
Providing clear information about our services
Helping people take their first step toward support
Offering gentle guidance and signposting
Making access easier outside of office hours
Lily-Bot does not replace human contact.
Instead, it acts as a front door to our services, ensuring people are acknowledged quickly and connected to real staff members as soon as possible.
Safeguarding at the Centre
Safeguarding has been built into every stage of this project.
All systems operate with:
Consent-based data collection
Secure storage of information
Human oversight of risk indicators
Escalation pathways for concerns
Full audit trails
AI supports process, not judgement.
All decisions about care, risk, and support remain with trained professionals.
Supporting Our Staff to Thrive
This transformation has also had a positive impact on staff wellbeing.
By removing large volumes of repetitive admin work:
Stress levels are reduced
Burnout risk is lowered
Morale has improved
Staff spend more time in meaningful client work
Our team are now able to focus on what they do best: listening, supporting, counselling, and building trusting relationships.
Technology as a Tool for Compassion
We believe that technology should enhance human connection, not replace it.
Used thoughtfully and ethically, AI can:
Reduce unnecessary workload
Improve access to services
Speed up response times
Strengthen safeguarding
Protect frontline capacity
For LilyAnne’s Wellbeing, AI is not the story.
People are.
Technology simply helps us support more people, more quickly, and more effectively.
Looking Ahead
This partnership marks the beginning of a long-term journey.
We will continue refining and improving our systems, always guided by the same values that have shaped LilyAnne’s Wellbeing from the start: compassion, dignity, accessibility, and community.
By combining human care with responsible innovation, we are building a stronger, more resilient service for Hartlepool.
Putting people first. Always.
