9th April 2012
How can digital communication skills help young people into employment?
We are currently running Cornwall's first digital enterprise programme for young people not in education, employment or training (NEET's) to understand the barriers they face and show them how digital communication skills can help.
‘Make It Digital' offers 16-19 year olds the chance to learn digital media design and communication skills, including digital storytelling through filmmaking, photography, blogging and animation. www.wemakeitdigital.co.uk
Working under the mentorship of our Digital Design Producers and with the help of 2nd year film students from University College Falmouth, our first group of young people have created a series of inspiring digital stories exploring the subject ‘choices for young people' through their eyes. We have been helping them learn new digital design skills and showing them how to use the internet to find support, inspiration, new skills and job opportunities.
Designing transitions
With youth unemployment at a record high, we wanted to design a programme that helped young people in the transition from school to employment or further learning. The internet has revolutionised the way young people communicate with each other. We recognised that most teenagers are already using social networking sites such as Facebook to connect with friends, but how many understand the real value of the internet for employment opportunities and skills?
Working as a provider for The Learning Partnership for Cornwall and Isles if Scilly (an organisation funded by Skills Funding Agency and Convergence), our aim is to help young people in Cornwall develop their digital skills, provide them with creative inspiration and connect them with relevant employment or training opportunities.
Our short programme has given our first group of young people a taste for what its like working in a professional digital service design agency and has enabled them to express themselves creatively through digital media. This in turn has built up their confidence for the future. We are teaching them practical design skills which they can add to a CV and introducing them to a possible future careers in the creative /IT sector.
Finding their voices
Our first Make It Digital programme has been insightful, challenging and inspiring. Most of the young people came to us lacking in confidence, qualifications, experience and ideas. Our creative design process and intensive one to one mentoring has helped them to think creatively and develop their personal digital story telling projects.
The results speak for themselves. You can view their work here www.wemakeitdigital.co.uk and watch their progress on Facebook www.facebook.co.uk/DigitalCornwall
It has been extremely satisfying to help a group of vulnerable young people find their voice through digital media.
Aidan Bolton (age 18) was the first to complete the course last week having made a film which explored his thoughts about apprenticeships and next steps after school.
"Sea have helped me think differently about my future. It has been a good experience working in a creative working environment and I have enjoyed learning more about digital media production. My film explores the issue around the stigma associated with apprenticeships - many people think that apprenticeships are for the under achievers at school but University isn't for everyone. I wanted to know what other people thought about this and used my film as a research project. Sea have now offered me some work experience with them so that I can work on real creative digital design briefs and think about whether I want to go into a career in the creative industry"
Making digital count
During the course, all students have received one to one mentoring from Careers South West, who have worked with them to fully understand their skills, strengths and help them put together an action plan which leads to real work opportunities or further learning.
Our collaborative approach means that we can take the course to small groups of teenagers in their community youth group, arrange visits to our design studio and use mobile technology to film and teach wherever they feel most comfortable.
4th November 2011
How can we design a better service for people living with dementia?
Sea have been hard at work this week preparing a business case and pitch for the Design Council and Department of Health as part of the “Living well with dementia” project launched earlier this year.
During this project we have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with some really great partners; Age UK, Volunteer Cornwall, NHS Cornwall & Isles of Scilly, Arts for Health and Cornwall Council, all are really passionate about improving dementia care and already play key roles in supporting those with dementia.
As we get nearer the deadline and our idea develops I think it would be a good time to reflect on some of the fascinating, surprising and revealing insights we have had during our journey.
One of the first things we learnt after picking up the brief was the enormity of the challenge that is dementia, my own granddad was diagnosed with vascular dementia but it wasn’t until this project that I really started understanding dementia.
Dementia is not a disease in it’s own right, it is a series of symptoms which can be bought about by a whole range of different diseases and other factors, Alzheimer’s being just one example (although by far the most common). In fact there are 97 different types of dementia, which makes identify and diagnosing the condition much harder especially at the early stages, and actually although GPs and other clinical practitioners can diagnose dementia through a series of cognitive tests there is no way to definitely diagnose the cause of dementia except at post mortem or, in very rare cases a brain biopsy.
The condition is wide spread, with 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 having a form of dementia and 1 in 3 people thought to be affected by dementia (family, friends etc.). These figures are only going to rise; in 2021 it is expected that there will be one million people in the UK with dementia and this figure is set to increase to 1.7 million people by 2051.
- We mapped the cost of dementia, watch our video. Click Here
So we have a complex condition, a huge portion of the population affected and naturally there is a big cost associated with the care. Estimates show that the cost of dementia to the UK is in the region of 20 billion pounds, around 26,000 pounds per person on average. However we know through Ed’s Grandfather's experience that this figure can easily exceed this with his dementia care to date costing in excess of 132,000 pounds!
Dementia however is not a condition that is best represented through facts and figures, it is an extremely emotional experience and can greatly affect the lives of every one involved. We know from person experience, from others and from those that provide the care that dementia is extremely challenging and there is a huge amount of stigma associated. What is needed is a range of care and support as well as understanding but does it exist and where can people go?
This is where the stigma becomes an issue, dementia due to its nature is a frightening condition but if diagnosed early enough and with the right support individuals can continue to live their lives perfectly well. Simply understanding that early diagnosis is beneficial could make a massive difference. In a survey of GPs less than 40% of doctors agreed with the statement; “families would rather be told about their relative’s dementia as early as possible”, if there is a perception that actually people would rather not know, mixed with a lack of confidence in the dementia care pathway (only 44% of doctors agreed that there are satisfactory specialised services for older people and/or their families in my area to meet the needs of those with dementia.) then surely the motivation for early diagnosis is reduced.
- Ed Rowe's Father and Grandfather who was diagnosed was dementia. It has been their journey and experience of dementia which has shaped our project.
However if there is a clear understanding of the benefits of early diagnosis matched with a whole range of support topped off with a proactive approach surely that is a recipe for success. Age UK as part of their changing lives approach have placed an individual in a Cornish GP surgery, their role purely based around dementia, supporting those who have been diagnosed and pro actively finding those who haven't, as a result the surgeries dementia register has increased by 33% in the short time spent in that position.
We are not the experts in dementia, but we have surrounded ourselves with them, we have personal experience and a desire to solve problems. Dementia is such a massive subject it is impossible to talk about all of the issues but hopefully this has given you an insight to just some of our findings.
17th October 2011
Could a community work exchange help people find employment & skills?
Working with people across Cornwall, we have co-designed a service that brings people who are at risk of redundancy, unemployed or looking for an employment change together to facilitate the sharing of knowledge, skills, services, advice and positivity. New Work Exchange is a "community hub" where individuals use the resource of the community to help meet their employment goals, increase their employment prospects and quality of life.
We envisage that "new work exchange" hubs could be online and/or within existing community facilities such as job centres, libraries or colleges.
This new service aims to address the main aspects that are missing from conventional skills and employment support channels.
Skills Exchange:
Individuals can exchange skills and services amongst a community using a credit system based on time, this can be used by individuals to gain skills in new areas of interest, as a way of updating skills relevant to employment or as a means of accessing free services.
Positive Mentoring:
Individuals can arrange to meet with a mentor; this can be anyone from a life coach to the local electrician, the two individuals arrange a meeting where the mentor can provide the individual with advice in an informal relaxed manner, this might be insights into an industry, advice from someone who has been in their position or just some positive thinking. A mentor shares their advice and in return receives time credits.
Advice Events:
These are events where a group or individuals in similar circumstances and interests can come together in an informal and friendly space and share advice and experiences. Events could be organized by shared interest or location groups.
Professional Connections:
One of the key innovations of the website is that each individual has their own profile which records their activity on the site and can link with business and support providers. This provides an additional level of support, matching up those in need of support with providers; and giving businessa direct link to a pool of potential candidates, providing an opportunity to headhunt talent
Information:
As well as these core-sharing functions the site will also provide a means for discussion and sharing of digital content, which would provide the chance for individuals to share their stories, tips and things that inspire them. A key feature of the service we wish to develop is a radio show which focuses on employment issues, a panel of experts answer questions submitted by listeners as part of a weekly show.
For more information about this project - please watch our video
http://vimeo.com/seacommunications/innovation-in-giving
10th October 2011
How can we present GB expenditure & benefit data to show opportunities for innovation?
Central to finding opportunities for innovation is understanding the data surrounding the challenge. We have been looking at figures for benefit claimants and the cost of unemployment in Great Britain from 2009 to 2010. You can see a visual breakdown of this information by clicking the image above.
4th October 2011
Could community radio help people to find skills and jobs?
An innovative new radio show aiming to help those affected by redundancy has been tested at a local radio station in Redruth as part of our bigger project to tackle the issues surrounding redundancy in Cornwall.
The show is just one of seven potential services conceived from New Work Cornwall, the Skills Funding Agency sponsored project we have been leading for the past 18 months.
Listen to the radio show
Duration: 25 minutes
The radio show that aims to give listeners access to support, employment information and advice was conceived from a series of workshops with people facing redundancy or recently made redundant.
At our co-design workshops we asked local people what their employment issues were and discussed potential ways to solve these problems. Many people felt they needed more information about how to set new goals and access employment opportunities in Cornwall. They suggested that a radio show would be a really accessible way of providing that information.
The pilot show, nicknamed "Headhunted", was broadcasted on Redruth radio in September featured Ed with presenter Nick and Lizzie Larbalestier - a professional NLP coach (Neuro-Linguistic Programing) who specializes in confidence building - to look at people's behaviour and how they perceive their life and employment situations.
In a workshop after the show, listeners said that the show offered something useful and was different to that of traditional support and information channels. They suggested that each radio show could offer something different for different areas and that they should be made available to download as a podcast.
Clare Pawley from Truro said, "Discussions about values and confidence building offers me information which I couldn't have got elsewhere."
The feedback from the pilot radio show has been incredibly positive and we envisage that regular podcasts such as these could be made available for the public to download via a website. We'd love to hear from organisations or budding entrepreneurs wishing to work with community radio stations across Cornwall and develop this service as a social enterprise.
29th September 2011
How can we use technology to create a global movement against human trafficking?
Human Trafficking is a growing problem and between two to four million men, women and children are trafficked across borders and within their own country every year. It happens all around the UK, but it's very hidden.
We are delighted to be working with international charity Stop The Traffik in the development of a unique global crowdsourcing website to encourage activism against human trafficking and help them create a global movement.
Our online mapping tools will enable individuals and community groups to learn about the problem, collaborate and share information.
The charity, which has more than 1000 member organisations in 50 countries and tens of thousands of activists all over the world, hope the website will help in spreading the message.
Bex Keer, Stop The Traffik's UK Manager, said: "We're really excited to be working with Sea Communications."Their technology is all about empowering, connecting and networking communities with their own ideas and solutions. This really matches our ethos in equipping and enabling communities."
"We knew we wanted to do this, but we didn't know how to achieve this online and having found Sea Communications just really delighted and excited us. I think we're going to pioneer something quite new in our combat to conquer trafficking."
18th May 2011
How can people do more for their community?
How often have you heard this from someone in your community:
"i'd really love to help, but i'm working that day" or "nice idea, but we don't have the money to do that"
The Big Design Challenge - Cornwall has enabled new ideas for community enterprise to grow and new working partnerships to flourish. It has created a positive buzz amongst communities in Cornwall, yet it has also highlighted some of the difficulties of community collaboration and potential pitfalls of the Big Society concept with issues such as lack of time, money and leadership cited as barriers to people staying involved in community action.
The good people of Cornwall already do a huge amount of volunteering and work for their communities, yet there is little support currently available through business, community and family networks to make it easier for people to get involved.
Through delivering this project and "Designing Communities" for Dott Cornwall, we have observed that if you want to create a Big Society you need to build capacity from within communities first, but how?
We believe that the Big Design Challenge could be developed further to remove many of the barriers to community action and empower people to make good ideas happen.
Heres some ideas for how this could happen:
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Barriers to community action
|
Idea |
How could it work? |
|
Funding |
Develop a community "crowdfunding" platform |
The Big Design Challenge website could be adapted to incorporate a “crowdfunding” element whereby people offer money to support the development of a particular idea
|
|
Funding |
Offer free social enterprise /fundraising and business advice |
Lessons in how to set up and run a sustainable social business, how to apply for grants, how to manage budgets etc
|
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Time |
Create a "Good for community, Good for business" volunteer scheme. |
A scheme where local businesses / employers receive incentives such as tax benefits or Big Society funding if they allow their staff to volunteer for their community 2-3 hrs per week.
|
|
Leadership |
Provide local community organisers |
Sponsored community organisers for each local area. Perhaps this could be a sponsorship opportunity for large private business as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility programme?
|
|
Communication |
Provide community support & communication toolkits |
A toolkit that enables community groups / associations to work together, form an organisation and keep in touch. It could include a local / personalised website with links to all relevant community support services in the area, a forum and a list of jobs that need doing for people to voluteer against.
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5th April 2011
Where there are difficulties, there are opportunities.
by Robert Woolf
I was asked today, "what's your vision for Sea?". I'm not sure if my answer reflects well as a business plan but I found myself replying from the heart. "The greater the difficulty...", I said, "...the greater my determination to find answers." And that pretty much sums me up, and Sea. We are inspired by solving social challenges, and challenging ourselves to find practical, sustainable, economically viable solutions.
It's a mission that has served Sea well so far and yet, as co-director of Sea, I find myself longing for the autonomy and mandate to get to the epicentre of problems such as deprivation, poverty, healthcare, housing, employment, waste, energy, sustainable living and so forth.
I have a definite sense that we are on the right track with our work for CPR Regeneration in Pengegon (a Dott Cornwall project). It's clear to me that community restoration is key to reducing deprivation and state dependency, and the practical steps towards this goal seem really achievable.
And yet...and yet...a culture of dependency within deprived communities seems more than offset by a political view that deprived communities can't be independent. Who's holding who back?
Here is a challenge that I would like to get to the bottom of, because given a generation or two, I believe the benefits system could be phased out without jeopardising the welfare of people. There will always be jeopardy in deprived communities, don't get me wrong, but jeopardy in a strong, well-designed, self-sufficient community is a jeopardy that would bring people together rather than create divides and apathy, as the benefit system does.
I'm sure the same could be said of the social dilemmas for young people, old people, people affected by redundancy and worklessness, people in poor health. Whatever their situation, whatever their jeopardy, there are always ways to inspire change and people within communities who will inspire behaviour.
17th March 2011
Imagine if Cornwall was a Worldwide Superbrand...
by Robert Woolf
Last weekend (11 - 13 March), 20 volunteers had less than 48 hours to design a new service for Cornwall based on the theme "superheroes". This was part of ‘Global Service Jam', an event which over 70 cities across 6 continents took part in, all with the same superhero theme. The team worked together using a service design methodology to define this theme into the following challenge - how can we take advantage of Cornwall's super powers in order to grow Cornwall's economy? They explored the issues in more depth using top down and bottom up techniques, and they then designed and prototyped a new service called ‘Oyster'.
This event was held at Pool Innovation Centre, and live streamed, to showcase the opportunity for Next Generation Broadband. We were watched for 60 hours, by 120 unique viewers, who used social media tools to contribute to our insights and ideas from a remote location. This remote expertise helped to shape the challenge and opinions of the volunteers.
The volunteers had no previous experience of service design. There were a mix of age groups - ranging from 17 to 70. There was a mix of experiences too - including architects, teachers, businessmen, designers, students, quality surveyors and so forth.
When you think about it, to have come up with any service at all in 48 hours is quite an achievement - and yet this team managed to not only understand the challenges facing Cornwall post-Convergence (European funding) but also to identify a unique and beneficial solution that does not exist in Cornwall.
Here's how they did it:
// Friday 6.30pm - 9pm // Brainstorm
After an initial icebreaker, we started our Jam with a very open plan brainstorm about the meaning and connotations of the word "superheroes", with a view to defining a challenge at the end of the evening. The open format helped people to start thinking about suitable challenges for Cornwall and as the facilitator, it was interesting to observe the ebb and flow of +/- energy as people with very different views shared their ideas and opinions.
The team was heading down the route of defining their challenge as one of bridging the gap between younger and older generations. And then, after supper, they turned on a sixpence, rejected the notion that we should try to make superheroes out of normal people and began to think of Cornwall as the superhero. I was impressed, and our challenge was set: "How can we take advantage of Cornwall's superhero qualities?"
// Saturday 9.30am - 1pm // Diagnose & Co-discover
If Friday night was all about talking, Saturday was all about doing. In the morning the group set about understanding the nature of the challenge in more depth 
and undertaking wider community research to examine the local issue. Armed with Flip cameras, chalkboards and anything else they could lay their hands on, five groups travelled to different parts of West Cornwall to explore the issues, needs and motivations of people and business; whilst another group stayed at the Innovation Centre to analyse the economic landscape of Cornwall in more detail.
Once again, I was impressed by the team's willingness to get out of their comfort zones and reach out to people. As I followed the tweets of other jams around the world, I noticed that many other cities had delved straight into the ideas whereas we were continuing to define the challenge. These fresh insights clearly helped the team to sharpen the challenge around economic development in Cornwall.
// Saturday 2pm - 2.45pm // Sharpening the brief
After lunch, our final challenge was set: "How can we take advantage of Cornwall's super powers in order to grow Cornwall's economy?" This was when the team learnt about the importance of a good question, it must be well defined and focused on a clear outcome. The impact of this is that the team moved as one from here on, successfully working in collaboration and harmony.
// Saturday 3pm - 5pm // Co-design
Possibly the most unfamiliar activity of the weekend for the group was our co-design exercises. By now, everyone was beginning to form ideas based on a linear train of thought. I mixed this up by taking three teams of five people through a very non-linear process for generating new ideas and innovations. Each team then had to develop their best idea, looking at the idea/service through a number of different perspectives and role play.
One of the ideas fell a part at this point and so we took the best of their idea and embedded it into a stronger idea. Indeed, bringing the three ideas together into one service - a service that would answer our challenge in a unique way - was a big challenge but by now the group were building on each others ideas and respecting everyone's voice as equally valid.
// Saturday 6pm - 9pm // Co-develop
A day of structure, definition and idea generation ended with the team getting extremely creative, developing the service prototype and rallying to each others cause. Working in small groups but coming back together as one team, the night ended with each team presenting their prototypes to the team. In a make or break moment, I pulled together the various strands together into one all inclusive sketch - the energy and relief was palpable. Everyone agreed with the solution, and everyone believed in the new service...even though it didn't have a name.
// Sunday 9.30am - 1pm // Document working prototype
In a crazy morning session, the team conceived and developed storyboards, scripts, logos, strategic and operational goals, and a brand called Oyster (helping Cornwall's pearls to shine brighter). The results can be seen here: http://planet.globalservicejam.org/content/oyster-cornwall-remove-grief-growth
// Sunday 1pm - 3pm // Lunch and Legacy
We then fell apart, exhausted (well I did).
So what did we learn?
For me, the Global Service Jam demonstrates that service innovation can be achieved by anyone, on any subject, across any sector...so long as you adopt the right process.
The team thoroughly enjoyed the process, they took ownership of this idea and to my surprise they are currently exploring the opportunities for developing the service further. Now that is something I hadn't envisaged. Here is their top-line pitch, not bad for just 20 hours of collaborative working:
"Imagine if Cornwall was a worldwide superbrand. Where Cornwall's economy grew as a result of a unique mandate. Where ‘collaborative consumption' removed the grief from growth, to deliver global advantages. A bank of everything, except money. A bank that invests the best of our resources, to help our pearls shine brighter. Welcome to Oyster - owned by people, powered by Cornwall, loved by the world."
4th March 2011
Can Big Society be delivered with small change?
Excerpt from Intersections 2011 conference at the Eden Project,
by Robert Woolf
A few weeks ago, I met Lord Nat Wei - the government's top advisor for Big Society - to discuss Designing Communities. This was our first Dott project for CPR Regeneration, where we were tasked with finding out how a new community centre might bring about lasting benefits to the residents of Pengegon. Pengegon is amongst the most deprived wards in the UK.
He thought our work, and the work in Pengegon that had preceded us, was a compelling example of Big Society in action. Where ideas and improvements were best achieved in partnership with residents and agencies already active in the community.
Lord Wei was interested in how we had started to think more deeply about the social challenges faced in Pengegon; such as the disproportionate cost of Jobseekers Allowance and Incapacity Benefits within a community like Pengegon.
He also liked the way we had considered the economic impact of social deprivation in England, not just in terms of the benefits system, but in other areas of spending too - like the national health and family support services.
In getting to know the people and protagonists in Pengegon, we've achieved two things. Firstly, we've co-designed a new community building, which has been led by the residents. Along the way, Designing Communities has enabled the community to feel better about themselves.
Secondly, we've presented new ideas to Lord Wei and the Department for Communities and Local Government for reducing the number of people on long-term benefits. One idea - the Peoples Benefits System - focuses on nurturing community activism as a way of topping up benefit payments, and this idea is about people accepting change for themselves and their community. From small things do big things come.
Another example of how Big Society might be delivered with small change comes from our second Dott project New Work Cornwall - a skills development project for the Skills Funding Agency.
We spent three months mapping the employment opportunities in Cornwall arising from public investments. In total, we added up 22,715 new jobs forecast for Cornwall. Let's compare that number against the number of unemployed people in Cornwall (17,700) and the number of people currently claiming Jobseekers in Cornwall (8,298).
You don't need to be a maths whizz to see that the cost would double if all unemployed people claimed jobseekers (adding around £16m to the taxpayers bill by my calculations). Then again, in theory anyway, for every unemployed person in Cornwall there is a job with which they can aspire to.
The current system for supporting unemployed people is to provide lots and lots of support. Yet, with unemployment still rising, one must reflect at some point about whether this represents value for money.
By contrast, New Work through co-design has outlined a number of unique ideas, such as Freedundancy, where services and support are exchanged or bartered by individuals and businesses without any funds being passed. This idea among many others would be a very Big Society approach. The future of service delivery?
And so to our last project for Dott, the Big Design Challenge sponsored by the Technology Strategy Board. Epic budget cuts sounds like a bad deal for people and, when presented as an alternative to budget cuts, it's understandable that many people and the media dismiss Big Society as vague. But without budget cuts, without an economic crisis, would we be thinking differently? Would we be thinking about achieving more for less?
This project asked the people of Cornwall what issues matter most to them, and they responded in their numbers. The Community Innovation Awards at the Eden Project demonstrated what can be achieved by providing the right information and the right environment for successful collaboration.
So, can Big Society be delivered with small change?
In my view, yes it can be, it's simply a question of how you look at problems and how we all look at society. There will always be better and more sustainable answers out there. As Albert Einstein said: "It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."
13th January 2011
Challenging Big Cornwall to Design in The Time
As we move into the second phase of Cornwall’s Big Design Challenge, I find myself with a moment to pause and reflect on the project so far.
It's been a busy six weeks. We've been out and about in Cornwall collecting challenges from a host of individuals, community groups and organizations. There's been a great deal of activity on the website which has seen 84 challenges submitted. Perhaps more important than the challenges themselves are the 145 interesting ideas submitted, proving that people love problem solving. People are a powerful resource to harness.
It's fair to say that we've had a good response to our crowdsourcing approach. Our activities have encouraged people to think about local issues not as problems, but as challenges that can be tackled and solved. We have developed a useful platform which enables people to share ideas for change and start meaningful conversations.
The big ambition
We now need to build on that enthusiasm and help people develop ideas that will bring tangible benefits to their community. Our plan is to bring together six community challenge teams and pair them up with design and business experts. They will work together to co-design the ideas and prepare a pitch for the Dragons Den in March 2010. For me, this is where the real challenge begins. Asking people to submit a challenge and an idea is one thing, but asking them to give up their time for the community is an altogether different ball game and requires a different approach.
Community collaboration
As leaders of this process, it is important that Sea provide the right information and the right environment for successful collaboration. Going forward, it will be important that momentum is not lost and that individuals enjoy the co-design process. We want to take people on a journey that is useful to them personally and benefits the whole community. This is easier said than done though.
The collaborative design process relies on people organising themselves, working well as a team and having a shared end goal. These factors are exacerbated in a community situation where people lead busy lives and often find it difficult to give up their time for altruistic pursuits. As a mum of two and director of my own business I should know!
So even with the support and knowledge they receive from us, I am in no doubt that the successful group will be the one that maintains a strong belief that what they are doing can make a difference and have an impact.
For more information about the Big Design Challenge and details of how you can get involved visit www.bigdesignchallenge.co.uk
14th October 2010
How can we find and engage people at an early stage of redundancy?
Project / New Work Cornwall
A nice way to unearth the answer is to first map the redundancy process as we did here in a co-design workshop with a mix of agencies, participants, solicitors etc.
This exercise helped the group to recognise a gap in the way employees are supported. Often, within SME's, an employee is made redundant with minimal support and then agencies get on board to help.
However, employers facing a downturn receive support from banks, administrators, accountants or solicitors before then; and these external businesses could encourage employers to make redundancies more responsibly.
Wouldn't it be better if employees were supported before they are made redundant rather than after? Well, this was a vivid message within the co-design workshop and Coodes Solicitors were quick to spot the commercial enterprise behind new schemes.
Harnessing the perspectives of different experts also enabled the group to co-conceive "freedundancy" - a unique user-centred forum where all types of advice and support are exchanged or bartered free of charge. This would be an independent enterprise, consumer driven and co-developed by volunteers who administer it.
So instead of thinking of service providers as the sole providers of service support, here are two great ideas where more and better can be achieved by others. And all this from framing a challenge in the right way.
Vi sit / www.newworkcornwall.co.uk
23rd April 2010
How can we reach new people about new work?
Project / New Work Cornwall
Engaging people via outreach activities is not easy and sometimes it's a bit soul destroying. Naturally, many people assume you're selling something rather than trying to help them.
An eye catching, Dott branded, classic campervan resolved that issue. We visited five towns over five days to ask people about their experiences of redundancy and the support they received.
We engaged with 151 people, many of which had recently been affected by redundancy (enabling us to hit our targets - tick).
Better still, we learnt the following three things: many people felt let down by the job centre, and were perhaps straying into long-term unemployment, many people received no support from their employer when they were made redundant, affecting confidence, every person we spoke to had no idea of the skills and support programmes available to them.
Knowledge like this leads to answers, and some of the services conceived by New Work started here.
4th December 2009
Is there such a thing as 'Hard to Reach' people?
Our recent consultation work with a deprived community in West Cornwall has confirmed our thinking that good communication skills and trust with people are vital to have if you want to engage with so-called 'hard to reach' people.
As we reflect midway through our 'Designing Communities' project for Dott Cornwall, we consider the fact that so many people living in this deprived area of Cornwall do not make use of available local services that could improve their social and economic circumstances.
So the question is, why?
Experts tell us that it is because of the general "can't be bothered" attitude in the community. "People lack motivation to change the way they do things" and the "general feeling of apathy" is blamed for unusually high levels of unemployment, education drop out, poverty, crime, teenage pregnancy, drug and alcohol problems. But by talking to some of the residents themselves, we are beginning to discover that very often people either don't know what services are available to them or simply don't understand the benefits they may bring.
So can better communication change peoples' behaviour?
There is no silver bullet when it comes to changing people's behaviour, some people will never change no matter what you do, but by talking to people on the Pengegon estate we believe that by improving communication and providing better facilities the majority will respond in a positive way and the downward spiral of deprivation given time, will begin to turn the other way.
So would a new community centre with trusted workers be a good place to start? Could it restore the sense of self pride and community pride needed to reverse the trend? Our work so far suggest that a community centre should be:
- A place that gives people a reason to be happy and like who th ey are.
- A place that gives people a reason to meet and exchange in conversation.
- A place that gives people chance to learn and succeed.
- A place where the community can take control of their own future.
