# Catalyst Notifications Week 2
> Last week we mentioned that we have kicked off the Catalyst notifications project; you can read more about the service and our aims. But in summary, we’re looking to help Charities/Non-profits with notifying their service users by launching a service based on GOV.UK Notify. This is…
Author: Matthew Ford
Published: 2021-02-26

<p>Last week we mentioned that we have kicked off the Catalyst notifications project; you can <a href="/blog/weeknotes-cast-notifications-week-1/">read more about the service and our aims</a>. But in summary, we’re looking to help Charities/Non-profits with notifying their service users by launching a service based on GOV.UK Notify. This is what we have been up to this week.</p><h3 id="jenna">Jenna</h3><ul><li>Week 2 has been great, and we have gotten into the swing of things.</li><li>Our daily standups have been proving very helpful.</li><li>We shared a document with our findings and recommendations after applying the design system supplied by Catalyst.</li><li>We agreed that the best route would be to apply the Catalyst branding to the GDS design system.</li></ul><h3 id="matt">Matt</h3><ul><li>Provisioned the hosting environment and credentials we’ll be needing to host the Alpha.</li><li>Provisioned Twilio for SMS, which isn’t one of the built-in providers in the existing Python codebase, one of the Alpha’s goals is to assess adding new backing services.</li></ul><h3 id="dave">Dave</h3><ul><li>Added support for sending SMS messages via <a href="https://www.twilio.com/">Twilio</a>.</li><li>Added support for receiving delivery updates via Twilio and exposing these to the user.</li><li>Setup “CI Pipeline” to automatically run tests whenever code changes are made.</li></ul><h3 id="aleksey">Aleksey</h3><ul><li>Implemented projects configuration improvements to make it easier to make changes we require that are different from GOV.UK Notify using environment variables.</li><li>Created docker-compose configuration to combine all applications and backing services the Notify service uses so that it’s easier to run.</li><li>I started to deploy the applications into our staging environment.</li></ul><h3 id="mauricio">Mauricio</h3><ul><li>Put together the recommendations for how we can overlay the Catalyst branding on the existing GOV.UK design system</li></ul><p>We should be on track to start testing with some users by the end of next week, so if you would like an invite, please drop, me a line on <a href="mailto:matt@bitzesty.com">matt@bitzesty.com</a>.</p><p>Bit Zesty creates <a href="/">innovative digital products and services</a> for corporations, nonprofit and startup organisations. Our experience working with charities and government organisations leave us well placed to understand their requirements and deliver them in a way that delights service users.</p>