The Ahoy Centre Marketing and Digital review
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The Ahoy Centre is a social mobility charity using sailing, rowing and powerboating to build confidence, skills and future careers for young people who need it the most.
The centre runs a range of watersport programmes, funded by their paid sailing and powerboat courses and Thameside venue hire. I could see they had lots of loyal supporters, valuable assets and proven impact, but their relatively new and small team, whilst very committed, were stretched. Their investment in marketing was reactive, and new ideas were rolled out without a framework to properly evaluate them. With grant funding becoming harder and harder to secure, the pressure to grow their commercial income was ever more important.
The board could see something had to change, so could the team, but they lacked the confidence to plan a new direction.
What they needed was someone to review their situation and offer a practical marketing plan.
The challenge
Ahoy came to That Web Person through the Cranfield Trust’s pro-bono consultancy programme with a specific question: was their annual Google Advertising spend worth continuing?
But from a short conversation, it was obvious that the question was bigger than just Google Ads.
The real challenges ran deeper. Ahoy was operating across three distinct areas — charitable programmes, paid courses and venue hire — each serving a different audience and requiring a different approach. But there was no shared framework for deciding what to prioritise, where to focus limited time and budget, or how to measure whether any of it was working.
Without a dedicated marketing resource, activity was driven by whoever had capacity. New ideas were tested without a way of evaluating them. And with no clear plan to present, the board had little to align behind.
Objectives
Rather than answer the Google Ads question in isolation, we agreed a broader objective: to give Ahoy a clear understanding of their situation and a practical direction for making their digital marketing work better — for their audiences, their income streams and their team's capacity.
Specifically, we wanted to produce something that:
identified the right priorities for a small team with limited time and resources.
gave the board a clear, credible plan they could get behind.
empowered the team to make more confident, consistent marketing decisions.
was practical enough to act on immediately.
Understanding the whole picture
I started by understanding the whole picture — Ahoy's audiences, income streams, digital tools, team capacity and goals. From that foundation,I produced a practical marketing strategy structured around four main goals - sustainable income, increasing demand and participation, building a sustainable marketing habit and reducing the friction on their website.
Every recommendation was scoped to what a small, busy team could realistically deliver. Each goal came with clear tactics, effort levels, costs and measures of success. I’ve worked with enough small charities to know it had to be something they could implement.
It also included practical tools they could use, including an audience map, a content rhythm and a simple decision-making framework they could use to evaluate new ideas. With a ‘what good looks like’ summary at the end, it was something the team could take directly to their board to explain the plan.
Key achievements
Identified the real problem: Moved beyond the initial question (Google Ads) to uncover the broader strategic and structural challenges limiting Ahoy's marketing effectiveness.
Delivered a board-ready plan: Produced a clear, visual strategy document the team could present to trustees with confidence, giving leadership something concrete to align behind.
Realistic for a small team: Every recommendation was prioritised and scoped to what the team could actually deliver without a dedicated marketing resource.
Empowered the team: The team were given clarity, a shared framework for decision-making, and the confidence to take action.
Exceeded expectations: Delivered in a short timeframe, the review was described by the client as insightful, practical and extremely valuable.
“Reena worked with our organisation to provide insight and direction on our marketing and communications approach. She quickly developed a strong understanding of how we work and identified our key focus areas. Her guidance was insightful, practical, and detailed. In a short space of time, Reena’s work exceeded our expectations. She was easy to work with, communicative, and extremely valuable.”
Next Steps
The review gave Ahoy the clarity and confidence to take the next step. As a direct result, they have commissioned a new website to support their new digital plan identified in the strategy.
Communications & Digital Review
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