‘Untold Stories’ bring the work of Sussex charities to life

‘Untold Stories’ bring the work of Sussex charities to life – and give students valuable work experience.  (And it's all thanks to Chamber members!)

A collaboration between Miranda Birch Media and the University of Sussex (both chamber members), is giving local charities the opportunity to promote themselves and students the chance to use their media skills.

The “Untold Stories” project is supervised by Miranda Birch and funded by the University’s School of Media, Film and Music.  MA students interview charity volunteers and those they support and turn their first-hand accounts into audio podcasts.

Through these interviews, the charities get a taste of working with the media, the students gain practical experience and both can use the podcast to promote what they do to potential volunteers, funding bodies or employers.

‘Fun in Action for Children’ is one of the charities taking part. It provides one-to-one befriending support to children aged between four and sixteen, growing up in lone parent families in Brighton and Hove.  The adult “befriender” commits to spending three to four hours every week with the child for a minimum of two years.

Anne McLaren is a founder member and Project Manager at the charity.  She says they will use the podcast in their volunteer training programme and as a way to explain their work to referring agencies and potential volunteers and donors: “We were delighted to have been chosen for this project.  As a small charity with limited resources we struggle to recruit enough volunteers to meet the needs of the many families referred to us for help. The podcast will help us get the message out to more people in a most friendly and direct way.”

Sophie Turton is one of the students taking part (and another Chamber volunteer!): “The project gave me a range of valuable experiences. From a practical perspective, I was able to take sole responsibility for a project and apply the journalistic skills I have learned over the past year in a professional context. ‘Fun in Action for Children’ is an incredible organisation. It was a great honour to work with the staff and with six-year old Cinnamon and her befriender Tanya, to produce a snapshot of the fun, friendship and love that has developed through this scheme.”

Sussex Nightstop is the second charity taking part. It’s based in Brighton and supports young homeless people across Brighton, Hove and West Sussex. It provides a range of flexible accommodation according to need – from a minimum of one night at a time to four week placements.

Marie Ashton is Coordinator at Sussex Nightstop: ‘As a small local charity, Sussex Nightstop is interested in any opportunity to help promote the charity and the work we do to support local young people. We regularly have days when we can’t support young people due to lack of available hosts, anything that helps aid recruitment of volunteers is greatly appreciated.

We are very pleased with the podcast. It’s very relaxed and easy to listen to, giving a really good feel of being in the home of a host. There is a lot of fear around letting young people into your home and I feel the podcast helps to put those fears at ease.’

Miranda Birch, of “Miranda Birch Media” is working with the University to supervise this project. Miranda’s background is in programme making at the BBC, including “Woman’s Hour” and “Desert Island Discs” on BBC Radio 4. She uses her interviewing skills to identify human interest stories within different organisations and turns them into content that will inspire their target audiences. Miranda says: “It’s win-win. It gives the University’s students useful practical experience and supports the University’s commitment to sharing knowledge and skills with local organisations.”

You can listen to the charities’ “Untold Stories”  on the University's website at : http://www.sussex.ac.uk/mediaandfilm/showcase/studentwork/untoldstories


 

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