“Voluntary sector”, “charity”, “civil society”, “social action”, “social enterprise”. How should we best describe the third sector? This is the subject of the first of a series of podcasts about the challenges facing not-for-profit organisations, that we have produced for societyguardian and Know How Non Profit.  Stuart Etherington, chief executive of NCVO, favours “civil society” – “individual citizens coming together for the public good”; Dame Mary Marsh, former head of the NSPCC and now director of the Clore Social Leadership Programme, prefers “social action”; Paul Palmer, associate dean at the Cass Business School’s centre for charity effectiveness says “charity” is the most recognisable term, which is the reason why Nirjay Mahindru, chief executive of Guardian charity award-winner, InterAct Reading Service, uses it.

According to a marketing expert: “Branding the sector is one of the toughest challenges I’ve been asked to deliver.” The key is to define the sector’s DNA. While Volvo equals safety and Heineken is synonymous with refreshment, what does the sector stand for, he asks?  We’re still taking your suggestions – please email your ideas to: charityeffectiveness@guardian.co.uk, or tweet your ideas making sure to use the hashtag #cepod.

We’re also keen to incorporate as many listeners’ ideas for future topics for the podcast, so please do get in touch!

This first podcast was presented by David Brindle, the Guardian’s Public Services Editor.  It was his first time in the chair, and first time behind the microphone and we think he did a fantastic job.  The next podcast will be available at the beginning of April – you can listen by following the link below:

www.guardian.co.uk/charity-effectiveness

After many months of working in various locations – mainly Jude’s flat – we have finally taken the plunge and moved into an office of our own.  Our new base is in Aldgate in East London and we’re neighbours with Happy Computers where we run most of our training courses.  To mark our arrival, and to tie in with social media week, we decided to run a Social Media Taster Day inviting people to drop in and see us, and receive some informal training and consultation.  We had a great day and were delighted by the turn-out and the number of people who came to visit.  It was wonderful to see some old friends, and make acquaintance with new friends too!  The core sounddelivery team were in situ giving one-to-one advice as well as running sessions in video, podcasts and social-media applications.  Not to blow our own trumpet too much, but this is just one of the emails we received after the day:

“Take a bow guys, you’ve got the plot and bang on at that! I enjoyed my time with you yesterday and it was so hands on and useful – thank you for that! I think the tech phobia is well on its way out! It’s now up to me to put in the rest of the work to seal the deal! And you’ve inspired me to do just that.”
Saritha Thomas, People’s POWER {Participatory OWnership Empowerment Radio} Collective

We’re considering running another Social Media Taster Day in the future – so watch this space!

sounddelivery was asked to attend One in Four’s Conference: Talking About Mental Health-Getting it Right.  The half-day conference aimed to spark a debate about how to communicate sensitively and appropriately about mental health.  Delegates were encouraged to consider the way mental health is represented by the media and the public at large.  Discussions centred on the “normalising” of mental health difficulties; the shock-tactic headlines used by newspapers where mental health is concerned; and the ways people working within the field of mental health “label” and represent themselves.

sounddelivery was asked to record interviews with panellists and speakers to create a podcast of the event, and provide separate edited interviews with key figures.

All the speakers and panellists have direct experience in mental health and
of working in media and communications. They included:

Alastair Campbell, formerly Tony Blair’s Director of Communications and a campaigner for mental health awareness

Debra Allcock Tyler, CEO, Directory of Social Change

Jacqui Thornton, freelance journalist and former health editor of The Sun

Heather Payne, Media Action Worker, South Warwickshire User Forum

Click below to hear the podcast from the event:

You can also listen to the interview Mark did with Alastair Campbell:

sounddelivery has been working with London Youth, a member organisation with more than 400 youth clubs serving 75,000 young people across the capital. We were brought in to create an audio evaluation CD of one of their youth worker training schemes.  We interviewed 8 young people who were taking part in the Youth Works programme – a project funded by the new youth volunteering charity V. It’s aim is to train a new generation of youth workers with a specialism in community activism. Young people who access the programme volunteer full time for 6 months in one of London Youth’s Quality Marked clubs. During this time they take their Level 1 Foundation in Youth Work, organise a community project and take part in a full programme of personal development.  The young people also benefitted from the advice and support of a life coach who helped them through any problems they were facing and gave them positive steps to deal with personal issues.

Click below to hear Rowan talk about the YouthWorks programme and his own personal journey:

Single mum, Josie talks about balancing the needs of her young children with her commitment to the training:

The first week of February this year marks Social Media Week – with the aim of advancing the use and understanding of social media in the corporate, public and not-for-profit sectors.   Events are taking place around the world and sounddelivery is excited to be involved by offering a host of special courses.   On Friday the 5th of February we’re offering a free social-media taster day: come along to our new offices in East London and we can offer help and consultancy in putting together a social-media strategy and show you how you can get the most from Twitter, Facebook and all the rest.  You’ll also get to meet the wonderful team – Jude, Mark, Eric and Kate!  So do get in touch and let us know when you’re coming down!  This month we’re also running courses in podcasting, video, digital stroytelling and social media basics – so do get in touch and book your place!

sounddelivery has been working with London Youth, a member organisation with more than 400 youth clubs serving 75,000 young people across the capital. We were brought in to create a short film about London Youth’s work. The aim was to raise the organisation’s profile, highlight the role of youth worker training and the impact London Youth has had on young people’s lives.

We interviewed 8 young people who were taking part in the Youth Works programme – a project funded by the new youth volunteering charity V. It’s aim is to train a new generation of youth workers with a specialism in community activism. Young people who access the programme volunteer full time for 6 months in one of London Youth’s Quality Marked clubs. During this time they take their Level 1 Foundation in Youth Work, organise a community project and take part in a full programme of personal development.

This film uses content from the Youth Works interviews plus contributions from Youth Club leaders and London Youth project workers.

The neonatal unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary is about to undergo a major redevelopment, funded by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. This exciting new development will enable them to treat premature babies in better surroundings than is possible now, but there are things that they want to do that they know they cannot do without additional support. This fundraising slideshow, produced by sounddelivery, is aimed to help the Trust create the new neonatal unit the best in the country.

There have been huge advances in treatment for babies born prematurely over the last twenty years. Survival rates for premature babies have improved significantly, and the treatment now provided allows staff at the hospital to manage critically ill babies with a greater chance of success than was possible before.

The Trust wants to do much more to help parents in this situation. They want to provide better support for parents – a comfortable room where they can be on the unit, perhaps talking to other parents in the same situation, while the doctors and nurses are caring for their babies. A separate room where parents and doctors can talk in private when there is bad news. And they also want to provide bedrooms in the same building – sometimes parents have travelled long distances when their baby is admitted to the neonatal unit, and going home is not an option.

In the UK, one in every ten babies born needs neonatal treatment. In Leicester they admit more than 600 babies to the unit every year, and the number is growing. Some stay for a few days, others for weeks or even months.

The aim of this slideshow is to highlight the role of the unit to raise awareness and most importantly funds so that they can invest in new state-of-the-art cots designed for premature babies needing to undergo complex medical procedures.

sounddelivery has won an Award!

We are now the proud winners of a Jodi Award for our project Podcasts from the Past : a joint project with the Museum of London, sounddelivery and VocalEyes.

Our project, which won the Digital Access Online Award, involved a group of unemployed Londoners creating audio description podcasts for blind and partially sighted people for the Museum of London.  Over the course of eight weeks the group developed their writing skills and learnt about audio techniques and recording.

The participants, who were from a rich variety of backgrounds and life stories, came together to work as a team to gain new skills, confidence and experience which they could use in the future.  These workshops created great material for the museum and were a fantastic way of reaching a new audience while inspiring and motivating people.

Martha Lane Fox, the government’s Champion for Digital Inclusion, presented the award to Jude Habib on behalf of the team at sounddelivery alongside Lucie Fitton, the Inclusion Officer at the Museum of London and Tobey Davey from VocalEyes.

The Jodie Award Judges said:

“Podcasts from the Past creates bridges between people and communities. It demonstrates the power of podcasts for a shared experience of collections between disabled and non-disabled people. The experiment of the Museum of London is a timely inspiration for museums, galleries and heritage sites.”

Listen to our audio evaluation of the project:

You can find out more about our work with the Museum of London here

About the Jodi Awards

The awards are named in memory of Jodi Mattes (1973-2001), who worked at the British Museum and RNIB, a tireless champion of equal access to culture for disabled people.

We are currently working on an exciting project for National Portrait Gallery and expanding our work in community engagement so please do get in contact if you want to talk about projects you’ve got in development.

jude@sounddelivery.org.uk

020 8888 2951

sounddelivery has been honoured at this year’s Jodi Awards for a Museum of London project.  Over a period of 8 weeks a group of unemployed Londoners took part in a project creating audio description podcasts for blind and partially sighted museum visitors.  The group developed their writing skills and learnt about audio techniques and recording.  The finished audio pieces – called Podcasts from the Past – are now available on the Museum of London’s website.  Jude accepted the Digital Access Online Award from Martha Lane Fox, the government’s Champion for Digital Inclusion, at the ceremony at the V&A Museum alongside Lucie Fitton, the inclusion officer at the Museum of London.  The awards are named in memory of Jodi Mattes (1973-2001), who worked at the British Museum and RNIB, a tireless champion of equal access to culture for disabled people.

The Jodie Award Judges said:

“Podcasts from the Past creates bridges between people and communities. It demonstrates the power of podcasts for a shared experience of collections between disabled and non-disabled people. The experiment of the Museum of London is a timely inspiration for museums, galleries and heritage sites”

This is what the project participants had to say about the project:

You can find out more about our work with the Museum of London here.

The Family Holiday Association is a national charity that gives low income families a break. They provide short holidays at UK seaside locations giving families the chance to take time out from their often stressful lives and rebuild their relationships. This year they expect to help more then 1,600 families as a result of their grant-making programme. One of the charity’s corporate supporters is the train company First Great Western who provide free travel for families on their routes from Paddington to the south west. In this slideshow the Nkrumah family travel to Butlins in Minehead. This is the first time 11 year old Angel has had a holiday, and spent a week away from London.

For more information about the Family Holiday Associaton go to fhaonline.org.uk/