Fit for the future : developing the Trust's communications - TrustNews Mar 14
We live in an information-saturated world. Finding obscure information once tucked away in a few specialist libraries is as simple as plugging the right key word into Google. Exchanging words, images and resources has never been so easy. But the changes go further than that. The online communications revolution is also transforming how we connect with each other and public bodies more widely. People can publish and share opinions and ideas with unprecedented ease. They can also join organisations and request regular updates at the drop of a hat.
For a small charity like the Trust, all this is both exciting and daunting. Our core business continues, as it has always been, in?uencing local planning processes so that Winchester retains its unique qualities as a special place in which to live and work, holding on to what is best from its past, while adapting to modern demands. Given local pressures on land and housing, our role as a trusted, independent ‘watchdog’ is probably now more important than ever. But if we fail to communicate our work and values, and to convince a new generation of members that caring for where you live is everyone’s business, the Trust’s importance will dwindle.
That's why, over the last four months, the Trust has been taking a long hard look at its communications, with the help of Bo Priestley, a local communications expert with a background in charities, who offered the Trust some of her time on a volunteer basis. ‘We asked Bo to take a fresh eye to our events, publications and website, and to talk to a sample of members about what they liked, disliked or thought we could do better,’ says Michael Garden. ‘We also asked her to advise on how we might spread our in?uence more widely. She’s now done this, with the help of a volunteer sounding-board drawn from within and outside the Trust, and put forward her recommendations for us to consider. We’re at an exciting point in the project, which I hope will see us making steady improvements to our communications over the coming months and years.’
‘I've enjoyed working with the Trust,’ says Bo. ‘One of the most striking things to emerge from my research has been what a wealth of experience exists among the Trust's 500+ members, many of whom are older people who have had distinguished careers in architecture, planning and public service. It also has many members with a lively general interest in their local built and natural environment. This is a precious resource on which the Trust can and should draw more actively in the future. The other thing that has struck me has been the extent of goodwill among members. The Trust is widely perceived as a credible organisation doing essential work, and deserving support. The challenge is to make that work more visible to Winchester’s wider publics.
‘I'm recommending the Trust steps up its local engagement activities, with a focus on communicating its expertise. At the same time, it has much to gain from investing in modern online communications, which are cheap and easy to use, alongside TrustNews. The Council has been very supportive and I look forward to chairing the first meeting of a new communications group in March, modelled along the lines of successful groups running in several other trusts.’
If you would like to volunteer to help develop the Trust's communications, please contact Janet Wiles on janet.wiles@virgin.net. Specifically, we need people to help us with:
Further telephone research with members from Easter onwards
Organising a new debates and discussions series in the autumn
Working with Winchester City Council and other groups to set up a local Blue Plaques scheme
Planning and running a new programme of Neighbourhood Walks in 2015, starting with St Giles Hill, St Cross and Fulflood