What is a 'social action'?
Social action is an act that takes into account the actions and reactions of individuals or organisations. For example, in the city of London knife crime is a constant occurance and is deemed a problem and potential danger for everyone wandering the streets of the city; a number of people may choose to make a report of the average amount of knife crime incidents in the location over a set amount of time, try to raise awareness and improve the safety as an end result.
What is a social action project and why are they needed? A social action project is the undertaking of a task set out to improve a problem in a populated area. A good example of a social action project would be graffiti incidents in public places done by youths. Graffiti would be spotted in numerous public areas, and a number of individuals may undertake the task of preventing them from doing so again and perhaps if the graffiti artists are that passionate about their artwork the individuals may attempt to set up a specific area specifically for graffiti in the future. Social action projects are needed to raise awareness of common problems happening in populated areas, these can range from as extreme as life or death situations to as little as there not being enough pathways in villages.
What is a social action video?
A social action video is a video created in aid of raising awareness of problems and/or following a social action project. The video will usually begin with an introduction to what the problem is, trying to maintain the viewer's keen interest in order to convince the audience to get on-side with the project. Interviews, examples, opinions and statistics will usually be thrown in the video to make viewers fully aware of the matter at hand, how grand scale it is and how it directly affects them.
Why are they important?
Social action videos are important as without them there would be many matters that weren't made aware to the public. Organisations such as AgeUK, The Green Belt Movement and Less Than Four would be far less heard of and less aided if it weren't for the creation of some social action videos.
The Green Belt Movement - Striving for better environmental management, community empowerment, and livelihood improvement using tree-planting as an entry point.
Using GBM’s Watershed Based Approach, communities help to conserve biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and reduce the impact of climate change. GBM relies on its network of over 4000 community groups to deliver its watershed based approach. By planting trees in these communities it gives the habitants a chance at a more civilised way of living, they have more resources for building houses and schools, as well as having a more fertile land to grow other crops to provide food.
CEE encourages communities to come together, take action, and stand up for their rights. CEE educates communities about the positive impacts of tree planting; and provides practical learning for communities on how to create sustainable livelihoods through: Food Security and Water Harvesting; Gender and Leadership; and Climate Change. These lessons help to give the communities a better understanding of how to sustain their way of life and improve.
WangariMaathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. In its citation, the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted Professor Maathai’s contribution to “sustainable development, democracy and peace.” The Committee further stated that Professor Maathai “stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa
Bucks Sport - Their vision is for an active and successful sporting county before, during and after the London 2012 Games. Theiraim is to create a ‘single system’ whereby all agencies work together more effectively to widen access, increase participation, create clear pathways and improve levels of performance in sport and physical activity.
Bucks Sport’s first purpose was to involve communities in Buckinghamshire in sport as we got closer to the London 2012 games, building the buzz for the Olympic and Paralympic games. After the events were finished, Bucks Sport directed their attention to building sport activity in schools and youthful communities, as well as giving sporting options to those with disabilities, working with clubs and volunteers, and professional level athletes.
The donations that Bucks Sport receive are mainly from sponsors such as “Sported.” and “Canoe Foundation Grants”. Other donations come from the general public and this is the entirety of their funding. All the money that Buckssport receive go towards helping the mentioned communities become more fit and active in a sporting environment.
Social Action Groups In Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire:
- Buckinghamshire Social Action Fund
- Bucks Social Enterprise Network
- Community Impact Bucks
- Buckinghamshire Rural Affairs Group (BRAG)
- Buckinghamshire County Council Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy
- Community Safety Neighbourhood Action Group (NAGs)
- The Ascot Project
- Young Enterprise
- Get Berkshire
- British Heart Foundation (BHF)
- Marlow Sea Cadets
- Marlow Age Concern
- Longridge Activity Centre
- Action4Youth
- Scope
We need Committee Members to help organise the Ascot Retiremant Fair, which has become a major annual event held at Ascot RaceCourse. This event will take place in August every year.
Helpers are needed with the weekly shopping trips it organises for the elderly. All trips are accompanied and we need more volunteer escorts to go on the minibus for the shopping trip.
If you have an interest in business and would like to help motivate the next generation, we would like to talk to you. One - two hours per week advising students on business ( term time only).
Attendance at a 2.5 hour workshop, part of this workshop is about finding an appropriate sports related deployment opportunity - each of which have their own induction process. Register online www.sportmakers.co.uk Activities all around the Slough
Could you help to assist with the day to day running of a shop? Varied duties and hours available including stock processing, sales assistants, books and music specialists.
We are seeking individuals to join our instructional staff who work with the Cadets to achieve our aims. Positions are available for both uniformed and civilian intructors.
Volunteers receive and help guests. They also talk with them, encouraging and comforting them as needed. Volunteers also organise games and quizzes, make teas and coffee, serve lunch and even play the piano!...
Join our friendly team of shop volunteers. Activities inclide working on the till, sorting and pricing donated stock, creating attractive displays and helping customers. Even if your time is limited we can make good use of just a few hours a week.
The theatre is looking for general help during performances, including selling tickets, ice cream, and helping patrons. This would be over a 4 hour period for each performance.
We are looking for someone to work with the Marketing & Publicity teams at the theatre with typing contracts, information sheets, reports & other general administrative duties.
We are looking for someone to undertake writing of press releases for productions and maintain a liaison with local media. You will also help with the design & construct a new look seasonal Kenton Theatre brochure.
We are looking for someone to devise a marketing & publicity plan for our productions. You'll also manage our e-list of Patrons & friends and prepare production promotional messages.
We are looking for someone to research the types of production which would be popular at the Kenton Theatre & provide Artistic balance. You'll assist with preparing contracts for these productions and writing information sheets for all departments.
Activities include: - Greeting the audience when they arrive at the theatre - Taking tickets and showing audience to their seats - Selling programmes and ice-cream - Making sure the audience abides by the theatre rules
The features of this video that I would quite like to include in the production of my project include this video's essence of: having the interviewees talk straight away without interruption from the interviewer, able to tell their side straight away feeding the audience with the key information directly.
[both dealing with the elderly - boredom, tiredness and loneliness]
Health issues to look into:
- Breathing problems
- Depression
- Eye problems
- Arthritis
- Heart conditions
Task 3:
For the elderly there are many problems that can come up. They can face factors such as a lack of activies for them to be able to do leading to boredom, due to their age they can become tired easily leading to an easy state of depression, loneliness can easily happen with any elderly person, unfortunately it often does. Family and friends don't often visit and this can lead to a depressive state of mind, which in turn can lead to mental illnesses such as dementia. Other factors that can and often do come with being elderly are health issues such as: breathing problems, depression, eye problems, arthritis and heart conditions.
Marlow Age Concern is part of the AgeUK group,
Age UK has a vision of a world in which older people flourish. they aim to improve later life for everyone through their information and advice, campaigns, products, training and research. They are funded by donations from the public, other organisations and publicity in the news from set up fund raisers and events. In terms of what they do, they help to provide a more habital accomodation for elderly people. They also attempt to provide more fun and healthier lifestyles through events planning and social care. AgeUK also help to encourage the elderly to continue learning new things in an education system, saying that "it's never too late to learn".
Age UK stands up for the 14 million people in the UK who have now reached later life, and also speaks for the long-term interests of every one of them so that experiences of ageing grow better for each passing generation. They work to make a difference in five key areas: Money Matters, Health & Wellbeing, Home & Care, Travel & Lifestyle and Work & Learning. They also have a direct marketing campaign to tell 2.3 million supporters and customers about their work. They have a direct helpline (01296 431911) which is up 9.30 - 12.30 Mon to Fri to be there to give information and advice to any elderly people looking into AgeUK.
They currently have a TV advertisement, which can be viewed here:
Individual accounts of people that have been helped:
Mavis' story
Mavis is an 88 year old widow and lives alone. Her two daughers live hours away in the north of England and in Wales. Although they try to organise visits to see her once or twice a year, their family situations mean that she cannot stay with them for holidays, and Mavis spends many Christmases alone.
The phone calls on Christmas Day are lovely, but when the echos of their voices are gone, the rest of the day seems very bleak and lonely.
Mavis was referred to the Age UK Befriending Scheme by her doctor, and she was soon found a volunteer visitor, Anne, who has a young child. Mavis asked that Anne bring the toddler with her on her weekly visits, and now Mavis adores the child and is like a surrogate grandmother to the little boy.
Not only does Mavis get great pleasure out of the weekly visits, but Anne and the toddler find time on Christmas Day for a visit with little presents to be opened, and photos taken of them with crackers, party hats and a small Christmas cake.
Mrs Brown's story
Mrs Brown, 89, lives alone, almost completely bedridden, has carers and district nurses visiting but wanted a pendant alarm system in case of emergency and also help with phone (provided by District Council Lifeline) which didn't seem to be working correctly.
An advocate visited Mrs Brown and contacted the District Council Lifeline in order to organise a pendant alarm. The advocate organised meeting with a person from the District Council who explained the working of the alarm system to Mrs Brown and also provided a new telephone as the old one was an obsolete model.
Mrs Brown was also experiencing problems following an assessment for a wheelchair. As she was unable to get to the door, it was difficult for the company to deliver the wheelchair so the advocate, after several attempts, managed to make contact with the company and gave them Mrs Brown's key safe number so they were able to make a successful delivery.
With the help of an Age UK Buckinghamshire advocate, Mrs Brown is able to continue living on her own at home rather than having to go into a home.
The point of the video will be to give an informative view and change people's views on how the elderly in the UK are constantly threatened by such things such as depression, heart conditions and loneliness. The key part of the video will be how I follow individuals of the Marlow Age Concern centre and keep track on their progression over a certain length of time. Asking them how things could be improved for their lifestyle, what would make them live in a happier environment and what troubles they've had to face.
The Marlow Age Concern group does not have any extra footage I will be able to use so the entire video will be comprised of 100% original footage from the starting date of filming to the end.
During the project I will have to be wary of saying/doing anything that may have personal impact on the individuals I will be following and monitoring.When it comes to ethical issues, I will have to bare in mind the 'old society views' and ensure that nobody is upset and nothing unkind is implied.
I want the video to grip people's attention via implicating an all-round happy vibe and subtle good-intentioned sarcasm to keep people smiling. I want the video to give a very friendly and easy going but still serious impression, making people feel kind at the end of watching the video, to of gotten people to take in the issues at hand and consider assisting in any way they can. It gives a detailed tide of emotion to the audience; 'pulling the heart strings'.
What was it like before you started receiving care from AgeUK, how did you feel about everything, how did you have access to certain things and how happy were you?
How have things differed from before and now that you're receiving care from AgeUK?
Can you give me some examples of the things that have had the most impact on you in the last year?
Hi my name's Ryan Gault, I'm a 17 year old second year student at The Henley College. I'm currently doing a social action project for my course and I was wondering if I could come into the centre to interview a few of your retirees as well as maybe some members of staff? Hopefully on
the 10th and 11th of November if possible, if you could email me back soon I would be very grateful, alternatively you could call me on this number ***********,
Thank you!
- Ryan
Phone conversation on the morning of November 15th:
Elaine: Hello am I speaking to Ryan Gault, of Henley College?
Me: Yeah, can I ask who's calling?
Elaine: Hi Ryan, my name's Elaine, I'm a receptionist at AgeUK Marlow Centre, you sent in an email for a project you were working on? I'd like to quickly talk to you about it a bit.
Me: Awesome, thanks. So what do you want to know about it?
Elaine: Well firstly I just want to apologise for not getting back to you sooner, I know you asked to come in on the weekend but we've been too busy; and I was wondering if you would still be requiring our help with your project?
Me: Yeah it's fine, I'd love to come in this weekend or next weekend with a camera and interview a few people if I can, get a look at what goes on within the centre with your retirees and some members of staff?
Elaine: Next weekend sounds manageable, I'd have to accompany you around the premise because of company policy with recording equipment.
Me: Yeah that's understandable
Elaine: May I just ask what course you're doing at college for this project?
Me: I'm doing Creative and Media, this is for my Unit 31 Social Action production.
Elaine: Ok Ryan, now you said about interviewing, I can arrange for you to meet a few of the clients and talk to them for a bit if you like?
Me: That would be great, thanks. Is there anything else you'd like to know about the whole thing?
Elaine: Just to recap, you're coming in on the 24th or 25th, right?
Me: Yeah the 24th would be great if possible for you guys
Elaine: Of course, that's fine; and you'll be bringing a camera to record your project for your course at The Henley College, correct?
Me: That's right
Elaine: Ok Ryan, I'll make sure to arrange a few meetings with our clients and I look forward to seeing you on Saturday
To evaluate my own project on AgeUK, I'd say I've done a fairly good job on getting the point across of more help being needed with the issues of OAPs needing more help with their common issues, e.g: loneliness, depression, poverty and illnesses. The intention of my video was to raise awareness for organisations like AgeUK so that the public may be better informed of some of the dire situations elderly people face and require assistance with. I kept the video concise with my original plans of having a slightly humerous nature to the video with keeping an all-round firm and serious view on the matters at hand; I gave the whole video a 'welcome' and 'warm' feel to it.
When I sent the video to the representative at AgeUK that I spoke to, she responded saying that the end result was "impressive" and "nicely put together", though mentioning that I "could of maybe got in contact with a higher member in the organisation to speak about our policies in greater depth"; which I entirely agree with, though will come to later.
I was entirely a stranger to the organisation before the creation of this project, not affiliated with any of the members at all, though now I feel that we could easily work together again in the future for any further projects.
As far as meeting with the customer goes, I had contacted them early in November 2012, and finally received a reply via phone call a few weeks later from a representative called Elaine. Elaine told me that she would be happy to allow me to come down to the Marlow branch and let me film whilst being supervised by herself. The majority of the deciding on what was allowed to be filmed and what was restricted was decided on site of recording on the first day of filming. Unfortunately as said before, I couldn't get a better insight with one of the social workers as I had originally hoped to get an interview over the phone with Giulia Johnson, the Chief Executive of the organisation.
When it came to the editing process of my project, I decided I wanted the overall production to have a 'fun' vibe to it, the intention of making it a happy video with a hint of sarcasm/cheek but not so much for it to feel anything more than playful manner. In terms of what transitions and animations on text that I used, I feel that things like fading from clip to clip, having bright yellow text giving the impression of happiness and having the text transition in and out with groovy animations. can subconciously give a 'soft feeling' to the viewer when watching, giving the video a subtle aura of kindness. The underlying music in the production is quite rhythmically 'bouncy' and 'jolly', giving the whole product a happier vibe to it; soft on the ears.
Overall I believe my project for this unit was quite successful, though constraints that I came across include my very slight lack of more variation in topics with the interviewees, and that fact I was unable to get an interview with the Chief Executive. However, considering the nature of the video, and the things that are included within the spoken topics, I believe the final product to be a success.
