In Autumn 2018 we held an exhibition to mark 5 years of People Know How, Trains of thought
Trains of thought took place in Autumn 2018. It took the form of an informative and interactive exhibition and a series of Innovation Stations centred around People Know How and our methods, research and projects to celebrate our five-year anniversary. Opening night took place on 28 September in St Margaret’s House on London Road. This marked the opening of the exhibition that was on display throughout the week over three rooms. The exhibition featured four sections based on our four-stage approach: Ask, Research, Do, Share. We laid colour-coded tracks on the floor to guide viewers through each stage.
Following the tracks
Beginning with ‘Ask’, we provided a timeline of our work and a series of infographics, pinpointing our consultations that form the foundation of our projects and services.
In ‘Research’ we placed the spotlight on our Research Briefings project, including upcoming topics. We also created a People Know How word-cloud.
The ‘Do’ section focused on our project work. We presented our Positive Transitions service leaflets, artwork by children and young people, Re:Connect illustrations, and a selection of photos of Craigentinny residents we had spoken to as part of Shaping Your Future, photographed by Timothy Aikman. One resident, Cathy, had given us her memoir to exhibit, accompanied by a recording of her speaking about her life.
As the tracks as changed from blue to yellow, viewers entered the ‘Share’ room. Here we thanked our partners and funders and featured a large-scale panorama photograph of Craigentinny, photographed by Timothy Aikman. In the middle of the room stood our Shaping Your Future map. Finally, we created a space for people to interact with the exhibit including social media frames and a blank wall space for people to write their ideas down so we can continue our cyclical four-stage approach. In the spirit of sharing, we gave half this room to Equality & Rights Network’s Voices of Edinburgh exhibition. Our sharing would continue through our Innovation Stations. In addition to this we also exhibited our collection of videos and short films that have been made over the last five years in a Film room. Here viewers were invited to sit and take a moment to see our four-stage approach in action on film.
Innovation Stations
In this exhibition space we held four Innovation Stations. These were events that took place throughout the week, bringing together stakeholders connected to our projects. We shared our learning and involved them in the next steps.
The first was themed around Research Briefings. We invited attendees to learn about our Research Briefings project, gathering information on social issues to build a database of briefings to influence current and future projects. After learning about our process, topics and impact of this work, we opened the floor to a discussion on how we can move forward. This discussion has since led to the review of our Research Briefings project, which is now generating new briefings that have already been used to create new projects such as Outdoor Journeys.
In our Re:Connect Innovation Station we shared our approach to digital inclusion through our Re:Connect project – a series of Digital Drop-ins that run throughout the week. We ran this in collaboration with SCVO Digital Charter, Streetwork and the Edinburgh Tenants Federation. The discussion led to our current reboot of Re:Connect after three years of helping people access the digital world. We are reviewing now the ways we provide our service across Edinburgh and working on changes that will result in a more personalised service to support individuals across the city.
The next Innovation Station was all about our Positive Transitions service, in collaboration with Spartans Football, The Broomhouse Centre and North East Locality – Children & Families Social Work. We focused on our approach to CAPSU (Children Affected by Parental Substance Use) through one of our Positive Transitions projects and discussed what we’ve learnt and how we can move forward. This paved the way for the expansion of Positive Transitions that we have seen in the last year, with projects focusing on children, young people and their families being delivered to even more schools across Edinburgh.
Our final Innovation Station focused on Our approach to volunteers, interns and placement students in collaboration with Volunteer Edinburgh, the Voluntary Action Fund (now called Impact Funding Partners) and Project Scotland. People Know How is committed to being a people centred charity, ensuring our volunteers, interns and students on placement a stimulating and supportive learning environment to achieve their potential. We shared our approach to volunteering, including unpacking our People Pledge and discussing our future as a volunteer-centred charity. This led to an increased focus on VIPs (Volunteers, Interns and Placement students) as a group, and ongoing revisions to recruitment, inductions and measuring feedback to keep on improving the experience of being part of the People Know How family.
Trains of thought held its closing night at the end of a wonderful week of discussion and social innovation, empowering us, attendees and our partner organisations to move forward with new information and ideas.