Questions and Answers

On Monday we were supposed to have a meeting with our clients, this was an opportunity to ask questions that would help us to find out more about them and what they require for the website. Unfortunately none of the three clients were able to come in and talk to us, so instead we split up in our groups and emailed our set of questions to the clients. After a couple of days we got a response and here are the questions and answers that Clive Bonny sent back:

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1. Could you elaborate on what do you do as an organisation? 
Work collaboratively with other specialists to develop organizations and individuals.
Our main aims are to ensure business continuity, facilitate risk management and maximize the potential of people’s capabilities.

2. Is this a training scheme for managing a project and in how to create products from recycled material? 

Yes the project is called Self Made Creative Clothing. The aim is to boost a persons employability. The project encourages students of all ages to acquire used clothes and textiles to redesign, reuse and recycle into other items of their choosing.

3. What are the project aims? 
The short term aim is to engage students in practical activities around recycling and the management of materials and resources. This improves skills in teamworking, design, innovation and planning. Medium term participants develop practical skills around the cycle of business, designing usable items from low cost accessible resources. They can show their tangible results, including photos and videos to potential employers to win future work.

4. Who is your target audience?
Students of all ages who wish to learn about recycling and business, and employers who want to recruit people with proof of practical skills.

5. What is the project background and history? 
The Royal Society of Arts www.thersa.org awarded me £2000 last year to test the concept. This grant was used to buy used clothes allowing 500 local students in 3 schools to have a go. Feedback was positive with students reselling items locally.

6. What activities do you run in order to enhance the person/s skills? 
I let them choose their own raw materials and designs to give them responsibility and a greater sense of achievement

7. How long has the project been running? Do you have any previous success stories, testimonies available? 
This project which began in February is a follow up from the first last year which ran March to July. Testimonials:

Sophie Gaston, school head of Entrepreneurship at Brighton Aldridge Community Academy, is planning more events to bring successful business people back to school to mix with the new generation of students. Sophie says “Organisations want young people who can show real evidence of enterprise skills. Practical skills in recycling waste are already in great demand by private and public organisations. These activities will equip students with more rounded confidence and competence to meet employer needs.”

Darren Fell MD of Crunch commented: “Crunch is very proud to support schemes that help build business skills for the next working generation. With youth unemployment recently breaking the one million mark, it’s vital that employers share their knowledge and experience with local young people. This group of highly ambitious students will now have the skills to continue to manage their business and the knowledge on how to set up a new enterprise in the future.” Crunch is founded by online entrepreneur Darren Fell, with investment from Bebo’s co-founder Paul Birch and former Skype Chairman Michael van Swaaij.

Duncan Cheatle, Founder of The Prelude Group, Start Up Britain and Rise To The Enterprise Challenge, says “we support such innovative projects to make Britain the most enterprising nation in the world”

£800 obtained 1.5 tonnes of used clothes for Brighton Fashion Week’s 10 textile design graduates. 200 hours made a world record 1.5 tonne PomPom to Jubilee Square publicly promoting recycled clothing. Published stories ran in the Argus, So Brighton Magazine, Brighton Town Talk, Festival News, Fringe and Brighton Fashion websites, Business Community Partnership, Going Green magazine, Radio Reverb, U-Tube and others. Reader circulation was over 250,000 plus 60,000 radio listeners plus thousands of U-Tubers on

http://www.eventfulbrighton.org/2011/05/14/the-worlds-biggest-pompom-brighton-fashion-week-brighton-festival-fringe-2011/

£400 each went to 3 schools. Shoreham Academy said “ 27 pupils attended Fashion Club over the term. We have made a mood board, fashion drawings, make up bags, a box of garments made from recycled fashion. All of year 7(258 pupils) & 8 (227 pupils) made recycled zipper cases. Year 7 made recycled toys and Year 8 made recycled storage for their bedroom.”

“20 children at Rydon and we would like to double this next year… to hold a fashion show. All the students are very enthusiastic and very interested in fashion.”

Rustington Primary children’s Recycled Exhibition raised £235 funding a Wildlife area.

Clive,
This is just fantastic! I'm in the midst of a large-scale redesign on my end, but this kind of work is precisely what could be contained in our to-be-announced Entrepreneurship Certificate program. I am an fRSA in the USA. I'm very interested in connecting with you regarding your project to help students nurture their entrepreneurial side. I work in an independent school (students aged 3 years to 18 years), and am heading a new division which is entirely on-line, but whose raison d'etre is "connect, communicate, collaborate." You can see the website at www.towerhill-eschool.com.

We have not yet had our public launch phase; that is due to come in September. However, at this stage, I am looking to form unique partnerships that will benefit students all across the world. One of the courses I have in mind is something on Entrepreneurship. In short, I am wondering if you and I might connect in order to construct a course that would be contained within our eSchool, accessible anytime/anywhere. It could be very exciting! Kevin J. Ruth, Ph.D. Director, Tower Hill eSchool

Click here to learn about partnering with us!

Tower Hill eSchool | 2813 W. 17th Street | Wilmington, Delaware 19806
(v) 302.575.0550 x339 | (skype) kevin.j.ruth | (e) kruth@towerhill-eschool.com

Clive

Thanks for this – looks absolutely brilliant – if I was still teaching I would definitely be grabbing this opportunity. Young people need all the opportunities they can get to enhance their skills. The work you are doing on this is great and will provide some real opportunities for those involved. Keep up the good work. Best Wishes

Gill

Gillian Ditch

Education Business Partnership Room 314, 3rd Floor

Kings House Grand Avenue Hove BN3 2LS Tel 01273 290482 ( ** Note: Change in hours: Tuesday & Thursday term time ) Mob 07906 842704 www.bhlp.org.uk/ebp 'Encouraging Brilliant Partnerships'

8. Are there a team of people who run the project? Would you want their skill/role background on the website? Any other participants? 
I let the schools nominate a teacher and the children select themselves into small groups

9. Where do you currently operate? 
Across Sussex and looking for a wider span of stakeholders across UK and outside

10. Where do you accept people from? Locally, further a field etc. 
Anywhere interested in

11. How do you currently promote the business/project? 
Press articles, web blogs and word of mouth

12. Have you received any awards? 
The Catalyst Grant is an Award in itself, competing with many strong applicants

13. Do you know of any other projects similar to this? 
There are many organizations involved in recycling textiles but none which extend activities into action learning to support student employability

14. How do you source your clothes? 
Charity shops, business people, parents and recyclers

15. Do you have any connections to social media, Facebook, twitter etc? 
You tube video promoted us
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY57xpharec

16. Do you want links to journal trade sites on your website? 
Yes to www.thersa.org and www.consult-smp.com and to those who give testimonials

17. Do you have connections to ethical fashion forum? 
Fashonistas broke a world record by creating a giant pompom to raise awareness of recycling. The huge 5ft 5in high creation took volunteers a week to make. Passers-by in Jubilee Square, Brighton, stopped to stare at the pompom, which was 12ft 6in wide and was put together as part of Brighton Fashion Week.

The idea was funded by a grant from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce to promote the creative reuse of fashion and textiles.

The creation smashed the previous Guinness World Record, which measured 4ft high and 10ft 8in wide. The pompom will now be taken to a recycling plant where it will be broken down into natural fibres and spun into a giant ball of yarn which will eventually be used to make socks and the insides of jackets.

18. Do you know the term up-cycled? 
Yes adding value via redesign and reuse

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Design questions:

1. What do you want the site to achieve/do? 
The site should attract blogs from existing stakeholders and new schools and businesses to engage

2. Do you have a slogan/tag line? 
Yes
Success breeds success when values sustain value

3. What do you want the site to feature content wise? Anything especially want/do not want on the home page, other pages? 
Features to include testimonials, press releases, examples of redesigned items, press reports on entrepreneurship and action learning methods

4. If your site was a person what personality would it have? 
Leonardo Da Vinci as he epitomises the creative sciences

5. What content do you have available for use? Images, video, documents etc. 
Lots of content re PR, action learning methods and industry reports of needs

6. How will people using the site get in contact? Do you have an email, address, phone number that you want to have on the site? 
Yes my details as below

7. What words/phrases would you want to be able to search online for your site to come up? Which are more/less important? 
Employability, action learning, recycling, resource management, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship

8. Have you got a theme/colour scheme in mind? 
Rainbow

9. Do you want to be able to have people sign up for email based newsletters? 
No I want onsite blogs/reports and photos from participants

10. Do you have a current logo (do you want a logo?), are you happy with it? Do you any other existing documents? Leaflets, business cards etc, that you would like the design to follow? 
Yes my logo and RSA logo 

11. Have you seen any websites you like the look of? 
No

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Others:

1. Do you need to be able to update the website? If so how regularly? 
Update monthly

2. Will you be advertising any partners/businesses involved in the project? 
Participating Schools and businesses can add their details