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Love is all around us

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Love is all around us

Here’s a thought.

What if coronavirus hadn’t happened?

Where would you have been half-way through 2020? How would you be feeling?

 

So much to smile about

Would you have heard about Captain Tom’s extraordinary fundraising efforts? Would you have been on your doorstep every Thursday night for weeks and weeks, clapping for carers across the country. Talking to neighbours you don’t see as you’re just too busy to stop and chat?

As a team we’ve been making great use of our Slack channels to share positive stories with each other, driving out the negativity that the newsfeeds carry. We believe in the value of love and laughter and we’ve enjoyed hearing all about creative approaches to boredom, physical and mental health challenges and ideas designed to boost resilience.

 

Communities coming together

One of the things that got us all interested here at Alive HQ was this postcard created by a lovely lady, Becky Wass, to support her local community. Her story and the #viralkindness campaign started the ball rolling for many community groups to boldly take action.

With the help of business groups, Scouting clubs, community associations and local churches many community hubs have been created, designed to do what Becky was suggesting, set up to feed those in most need, pick up shopping, prescriptions and necessities to make self-isolation for the vulnerable that little bit more bearable.

 

Unconditional gratitude

We’ve heard the great stories of strangers buying NHS staff their shopping and retailers changing their working hours to prioritise frontline workers. Thank you messages on bins for refuse collectors, rainbow drawings in windows and painted pebbles popping up with feel good messages like these ones in Southwood.

 

The heart and soul of our society

And there’s been so much more. More community-based and all created with the deepest sense of compassion that, it could be argued, our country has been missing in recent years. From groups like The Big Community Sew to Covid Mutual Aid creating a sense of community and neighbourliness we simply haven’t felt for some time.

Many of the people that start up these initiatives could be classed as our unsung heroes. The ones that are bringing community spirit, communication and happiness back to their towns and villages. Like Darren who set up Overton TV. A local TV show with music, information about COVID-19 from medical professionals, a platform for many to share stories, offer support and ask questions. A place to be heard and to feel they belong.

The sense of belonging and spirit of a community was evident when Alive worked with Derbyshire on their Derbyshire Spirit campaign. It was built to create a feeling that touched hearts and minds. That feeling you have, that when the chips are down, you pull together and make your community great again. We know this is the same sense of community that has helped everyone weather this storm.

 

A world of creativity

During the pandemic, arts and culture have become more accessible. Artists have been creating colouring resources to keep kids busy, museums have been turning their gallery pieces into online jigsaw puzzles, musicians have been hosting mini sessions with guest co-singers on social platforms. Theatre groups have given free access to musicals, operas, productions and pantos. Andrew Lloyd Webber being a prime example, as he released his shows for free. There has also been a chance to watch Shakespeare performances for free. Opening up access to those that couldn’t access them before or for younger children who might struggle to sit through a full-length show.

 

Sharing our strengths

We live in a wonderfully diverse society that has been playing to its strengths. We’ve watched programmes about the army of volunteers that have mobilised across the country. Celebrities like Ross Kemp report the stories of the thousands doing extraordinary things to help those in need. On professional channels like LinkedIn we’ve seen counsellors and coaches offering free support to NHS staff and other key workers. Businesses offering their skills to help other businesses and individuals alike.

 

We’ve loved seeing these positive stories being unearthed. We realise the journey to recovery as a country is still not over and we have some hard times ahead, but we are holding onto these great moments, of which we’ve no doubt there are countless other wonderful examples of people going above and beyond for their local communities during lockdown.

 

Love is all around us. We just need to take a look.

We’d love to hear more. What’s been happening in your communities that you’re proud of? Share your stories with us – hello@alivewithideas.com or tweet them @alivewithideas.

“I feel like they own and care for the project as much as we do! I would not use anyone else for my creative work and think Alive is ahead of the game.”

Jo Hobbs — Communications Manager

“Thanks for all your help. We are delighted with the campaign, both in terms of the creativity and messaging but also the thought taken over the rollout of the materials. All looks absolutely fabulous!”

Sarah Crowdy — Campaign and Media Officer Communications, South East Water

“We went to ‘Alive’ for ideas on how to run a specific employee program in Europe. Alan and his team were brilliant in coming up with fresh, creative and practical approaches. The team took charge and executed brilliantly. We are pleased with the progress made so far and hope to have the same level of partnership and commitment going forward.”

Sobha Varghese — Tata Consultancy Services

“Alive helped us create a video of our response to the floods of winter 2019. Our Chief Officer received messages from all round the country praising us for it and was really pleased with both the video and the response to it.”

Alexander Mills, Communications Manager — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“We had the privilege to work with the Alive team. It was our first time to be involved in creating an animation for our patients within paediatrics. The team were approachable, friendly, creative and very accommodating. Your vision for what you want to create, is at all times acknowledged, appreciated and accommodated by the team. They worked effectively and with great passion towards our project and worked not only alongside health professionals but also our patients who really enjoyed the experience of working with the Alive team. It has given our team the confidence and inspiration to do further projects in the future. We highly recommend Alive and their exceptional team.”

DR ELENI ATHANASAKOS, Lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist — NHS Barts Health

“‘The short animation developed in co-production with clinicians and young people is outstanding! Informative, developmentally appropriate, vitally fun and engaging. We are really grateful for the expertise of the Alive with Ideas team for their innovative approach in building children’s health literacy.'”

Kath Evans — Director of Children’s Nursing at Barts Health

“Our mission was to update our brand visuals to better reflect our innovative and forward-thinking organisation. After receiving numerous pitches from different branding agencies, Alive stood out with their clear passion and understanding of our identity and goals. We thoroughly enjoyed working with the Alive Team to create an engaging new brand that we are immensely proud of.”

Lianne Springer — Communications and Engagement Lead

“Alive wowed us during the pitch process and they didn’t stop wowing us throughout the whole project. Every person we worked with at Alive were so friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about what they do. They have worked with us to really understand what we do and have created a new brand and website that really stands out from our competitors. Thank you!”

Louise Burnard, Head of Marketing and Communications UK — Be | Shaping the Future

“I think the team have done such a brilliant job, particularly with responding to our requests. It's one of the best mental health videos I've ever seen. Very proud to be associated with your exemplary work. Thank you so much.”

Dr Anna Batho — Clinical Psychologist – Critical Care, UCLH

“We have worked with Alan, Caroline and the wider Alive With Ideas team for many years. In that time, they have provided a dedicated service that is second to none. We appreciate their attention to detail and creative approach to bringing our brand, communications and stories to life. And would recommend them to anyone looking for creative communications support.”

Georgia Beech — Internal Communications Specialist, Ocado Group

“This is brilliant. I wanted to give my heartfelt thanks to all of the team who worked on this. You all understood exactly what we wanted to communicate and why, and then managed to do it in a way that was far better than anything I could have imagined. I’m a bit choked up to be honest!”

Sarah Wright, Head of Communications and Campaigns — NEA

“Each time I work with the team, I am always stunned at the effort and creativity that goes into each detail and am always eager for the end result. The team is extremely accommodating and always provide a fresh approach to our projects that elevates our communications materials!”

Alana Khaytin, Communications Specialist — Braskem America

“What I really appreciate about Alive is that they work with us as partners, and care as much about getting it right for our patients as we do.”

Sara Langston, Patient Engagement & Marketing Manager — italk

“Alive are unique in how much they deeply listen and invest in you and your ideas. I have not come across a company that listens as much as they do to ensure your needs are understood and met (actually - they always exceed my needs and expectations). Everyone I recommend Alive to has an equally brilliant experience. When you work with Alive, you are not only getting some genius creativity brought into your life, you are also hanging out with some of the best examples of human beings I’ve ever known.”

Steph Tranter, Hybrid Exec Coach & Psychologist — StephTranter.com

“The (Alive) team were able to creatively pull together and document (in just over 2minutes) everything our service has achieved over the last few months, from thousands of prescriptions deliveries to hundreds of phone calls made to the vulnerable. The final product was so powerful and reflective of what our service has and continues to achieve. It couldn’t have been better received within the service – thanks Alive for once again helping us to communicate our vision!’”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire & Rescue

“We worked with the team at Alive to create our staff recognition video.
At a time like this, its never been more important to share the amazing work that our staff have done and continue to do on a daily basis under very difficult circumstances. We wanted to shout about this and recognise that when the time came, South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue stepped up to the plate. We didn’t want an ordinary thank you post on social media or a basic email sent out internally, we wanted something special. Enter Alive. ”

Emma Wright — South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue

“Our company is fun, we have great brands, but most importantly we’re all about our people – and I wanted an agency who would understand that and help us bring it to life through our website and other comms. Straight away I felt that Alive ‘got’ us and provided the creative inspiration exactly where we needed it, as well as the technical expertise to deliver a well-functioning website.”

Keren McCarron, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications — KP Snacks

“Boom!
Thank you so much. Incredible work done at incredible speed by incredible people.
Outstanding work as ever and what a turnaround. As for the concepts – wow. These are that good it would be an insult to describe them as just good. It’s a joke, quite frankly. This is exactly the Alive effect I was after. Right now I feel like I am living in an Alive With Ideas wonderland. Thank you!”

Jack Grasby, Campaigns Manager — SYFR

“If you are looking to improve creativity and build teamwork, I highly recommend a session like this for your team. No matter where you are in your creativity journey, a workshop like this can give your team a boost of energy and ideas to invigorate their creative thinking.”

Amy Lilja, IC Manager — Hennepin Healthcare

“Alive were there to help when we were working every hour to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. They gave us the creativity, ideas and support we needed to deliver campaigns which empowered our residents in the most difficult time most of us have ever seen, personally and professionally. The team understood what we needed, worked closely with us and delivered fast without any compromise on quality. Working with Alive has been a joy in the darkest of times and I have no doubt will have helped to save lives. Thanks team x”

Julie Odams, Assistant Director of Communications & Customers — Derbyshire County Council

“We got 'Alive' involved to help us shift mindsets across our organisation and they delivered! Using simple, clear and creative ideas the team have delivered us a campaign which has seen a dramatic increase in idea sharing and development. They’ve also played a significant role in creating a culture of shared success. I wouldn’t hesitate to work with again, in fact, we already are!”

Gavin Buckle — B&Q
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