social enterprise

This article is provided courtesy of the news feed at http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/news

A charity project in Liverpool is using cutting edge digital technology – and a giant penguin - to enable people to have their say on the big issues facing their communities.

‘Penny the Penguin’ is a user-friendly festive art installation, with the ability to record video comments from people about their local area and the issues close to their heart.

Part of Go Penguins, a Merseyside-wide cultural art initiative, Penny combines visual and online technology to ‘talk’ to visitors at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral and encourage donations to Liverpool Unites, a charity which helps community groups positively engage children and young people and help break the cycle of crime and poverty.

All of Penny’s footage will be fed back to a supporting website where the films can be viewed online, while graphic design and digital media specialists ICE, who created Penny, will use the videos as potentially useful insight for its social change projects.

Stuart Jackson, ICE chief executive said: ‘We strongly emphasise creative thinking and digital expertise to drive forward community engagement and consultation - listening to people, in order to understand their needs and bring about real and lasting change.

‘We’re passionate about using digital media innovatively to create dialogue with communities, rather than just passive one-way communication, and that’s exactly what our interactive penguin will do.’

‘Penny is an easy and fun way of encouraging people of all ages – and from all sections of the community - to think about the important issues affecting them and the areas where they live.”