We are delighted to have worked with a group of carers to give them new skills and confidence to become community reporters in Trafford.
After working with the team of community reporters for nine months we asked them to share how they felt about their involvement and 100% said that they felt more confident and felt like they had learned something new, 100% also said that they now felt happy speaking in front of others and had a more positive view of themselves.
The adult and young carers we worked with were all a part of Trafford Carers Centre and we supported their development of media skills in interviewing, photography, filming and writing news articles with monthly workshops and various press opportunities – they even created their own reporting team name and logo – Lightning Bees.
The news articles and video content they created included reporting on each other, interviewing CEO of Trafford Carers Centre – Michelle Grogan, creating original content for Young Carers Action Day, attending Manchester Day and interviewing attendees, reporting on Carers Week and even getting an exclusive with Father Christmas.
They also shared first person accounts of their caring role and readings of poetry which captured their feelings about caring for a loved one and bereavement, and shared reports on activities they enjoy doing outside of their caring role – like gardening – in the hope that all the content that they shared would encourage others to seek support for their caring role.
During our time with the team they created:
- 10 news articles blogs/press
- 10 news video packages
- 10 social media clips
- 4 graphic videos from reporter’s poems
- And supported one live event in Carers Week.
Kirsty Day, media director at Yellow Jigsaw and project lead with the Lightning Bees, said: “It has been amazing working with both adult and young carers on this project – individually and as an intergenerational team.
“Seeing them grow in confidence, sharing their stories, shining in front of the camera and coming up with fantastic ideas for news packages is why we do what we do.
“One young Lightning Bee was very quiet and didn’t believe in herself when she first started but through the workshops and consistent encouragement – she has grown in confidence and ability. My highlight was seeing her take on vox pop interviews with members of the public and stepping in front of the camera to do presenting and directing other team members. It was also delightful to see her interacting with the old generation news team members and collaborate on projects with them.
“Not only has this team of community reporters increased their own skills and confidence they have created a suite of content that will support other carers too. Long may it continue.”
Check out the Lightning Bees work here: https://www.traffordcarerscentre.org.uk/news/
If you would like to talk to us about our community reporter training – email grace@yellowjigsaw.co.uk
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