Partners & Participants
Partners
Digital Voice works with a diverse range of local and national public and private funders and commissioners. This allows the team to support and work with groups of people who face disadvantage, from Travellers to older people in the most remote areas of the UK. Some examples are
Care homes, housing associations, schools, police, the NHS
Third sector organisations: voluntary associations, charities, social enterprises, arts organisations
Multiple partnerships: one partner may bring participants, another may bring expertise (such as a local history group), a third may bring equipment, materials (such as a photo archive) or venues.
Funding may be arranged through contracts, grants, in kind support. Digital Voice advises organisations on securing funds, as well as sourcing its own funds to offer projects that are free to participants.
Digital Voice have been lucky enough to work with many national and local charities, community groups and local authorities across the UK representing some of the most vulnerable. These partnerships allow us to build relationships with participants, with the support and experience of those organisations.
Participants
Digital Voice designs projects for a wide range of groups. It has specific skills to deliver integrated intergenerational schemes and to work with adults with learning disabilities, older people and vulnerable adults. We aim to help people tell stories of things that are important to them.
All age groups: Digital Voice works with people of all ages, from children and young people to adults and older groups – sometimes bringing all these together in intergenerational groups or families
People seeking skills development: to increase employability, to overcome isolation, to access services (such as benefits or shopping from home)
Varied abilities: people with a learning disability or additional needs
People strengthening community cohesion: sharing local heritage, highlighting local people’s stories, working together on team projects
Vulnerable people: domestic abuse survivors, women with experience of sexual violence
Diverse backgrounds and life experiences: refugee groups, Travellers, young carers
People with various health conditions: dementia, neurodevelopmental conditions, any additional needs
Vulnerable people
Digital Voice works with people who have coped with disadvantage, such as experience of the care system or responsibility for caring for other children or adults.
Our projects aim to give vulnerable people a voice and develop their digital skills and creativity. The Digital Voice team has helped empower children and adults to present their stories to policy makers. As a result of the power of their messages, they have achieved changes to policy, which have then improved policies and services for them and their peers.
Our work with women who have experienced domestic abuse and sexual violence ended with the artwork being used to train police officers and other professionals. Case Study - DigitalMe with Survivors of Domestic Abuse
People with additional needs
Digital Voice have a great deal of experience of working with people with learning disabilities to produce digital media on subjects that are important to them, such as creating films about internet safety in ways that can help others understand. We have a passion for making media production accessible to people who need some extra support, while educating on important issues by engaging people in new ways. Case Study - iSkills Our Valley, Our Place
Older People
Digital Voice’s work with older people has included the development of popular services such as inTouch, which boosts the confidence of participants to use digital technology and educates them on how to use the internet safely. As a result, many hundreds of older people are now digitally included, reducing isolation and creating more equitable communities.
People with dementia have less access to digital learning opportunities; in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society and the NHS we wrote our LifeBooks course which gives pleasure to those with dementia across the country, engaging them through photos and audio to create digital books of their life stories. Case study - LifeBooks at Briardene and Sovereign Lodge
INTER-GENERATIONAL PROJECTS
Digital Voice’s inter-generational work about heritage supports older people to share their memories about the local area with children and young people. Training is provided to produce films about their area’s past, which can be screened, streamed online and become lasting mementos. It is powerful to bring different age groups together. Case Study - The Lost Village of Milkwell Burn
people strengthening community cohesion
Digital Voice work with community groups and children with their parents, helping them learn about creative digital media together in a fun, informal environment. PhotoClub and the Photography is Fun after-school clubs are inclusive and accessible. Families work on projects together, leading towards an exhibition of their work.
