TV times – putting residents in the picture

Published by Hannah Wooderson for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities

Recent programmes like the BBC’s Neighbourhood Watched and Channel 4’s Tower Block of Commons were – in very different ways – compulsive viewing, as cameras followed work being done in some of the UKs most deprived communities.

Now one social landlord is taking resident engagement to the small screen. James Evans goes behind the scenes to find out how for Barnet Homes, thinking outside the box means being on it…

The Grahame Park development in Barnet - built in the 1960s and home to almost 5,000 residents – has become the first area to launch its own dedicated TV channel. But Grahame Park TV (or GPTV for short) is far more than a version of Barnet’s Got Talent, and thankfully, there’s no sign of Piers Morgan loitering with intent either.

Installed on a large screen in the centre of the estate’s concourse, the project represents a meeting of minds between landlord Barnet Homes and digital delivery specialists Mobs Ventures; one that brings together a channel of inviting, stimulating, provoking content, driving reaction, inspiring action and providing knowledge. It’s a concept that relies as much on user-generated content as it does messages from social partners and service providers, and it may yet help discover the next Susan Boyle... although whether that’s considered a good thing or not isn’t for us to say...

Tim Blanc, Barnet Homes’ Residential Involvement Manager, and one of the leading figures behind the project, told 24housing: “We had been looking for a new way of communicating in the borough, engaging and empowering our residents. In the bigger world, communication platforms these days are so expansive and ambitious, and there’s a notion that social housing landlords are still stuck posting leaflets through doors or sticking posters to walls. To a large extent that’s true, but not here.

Switched on

“We’d already explored the idea of utilising Bluetooth technology to deliver information to people’s handsets. That was a good start. But deeper we delved, and ended up with the idea of a visual hub, a central screen that drew residents in to a shared, evolving project.”

The idea was as simplistic as it was inspired. While key social messages could be passed to residents on a platform that closer matches today’s preferred methods for digesting information, local people also now found themselves with a blank canvas on which to express what it was to be a Grahame Park resident, even showcasing some previously hidden talents to the watching world, from youth dance groups to 78-year-old pop stars.

The bigger picture

And the world is indeed watching. While the TV channel, in its original format, may only screen at one location on the estate, GPTV’s Facebook page offers a truly global reach, with the creation of a standalone website also coming to fruition very shortly.

It’s a breath of fresh air in an area that, at the start of the last decade, found itself in some need of improvement. Its wider regeneration project is eight years in, and although some social problems remain, the tired and rather mistaken 1960s dream of community ‘bubble living’ is being reworked in 2010.

Charlie Kanareck, Residential Involvement Officer, says: “The facilities here are great, with onsite doctors, shops, a community centre, library and dentist, but the estate has no through roads, and in the past that left it very secluded with people very rarely venturing in or out. That’s now changing, and with GPTV here as well communities based purely within the estate are liaising with each other better.”

Channelling communication

Tim adds: “One of the challenges before was the number of contrasting messages from various social partners and service providers. Each would come to residents with a different voice, many talking over one other. GPTV has given us a place to harmonise them, creating a joint platform where they can all express themselves.”

Much of that delivery is to do with content managers Mobs Ventures, an external company with a big community heart, employed to collate, aggregate and deliver stimulating TV that is designed to appeal to any of the area’s many demographics. Director Cec Richards, who has spent many years working in the social housing sector, is excited by the proposition:

“With housing, you’ve got some traditional ways of working – ‘we’ll do it this way because we’ve always done it this way’... But the vision of Tim and the others has allowed them to really steal a lead on the rest of the housing landlords. It’s a brilliant, if rare, example of the public sector looking to catch-up with private sector thinking.”

What’s on the box?

And in terms of content, Mob Ventures have been vital in making sure GPTV engages with residents. The Word, a programme that encourages locals to come forward with birthdays, special events, talent and performance is a big hit, yet only the tip of the user-generated content iceberg. Music producers can upload tracks, film-makers show reels, and residents can create videos either in an onsite mobile video booth or in their own time, uploading either by USB stick at a central location, through the Facebook page, or via email.

And with the beaming of live feeds (such as the annual Street Olympics event and even World Cup football), there is a constantly evolving stream of high-quality video material, managed, edited and perfected offsite by Cec’s team before being delivered into the heart of Grahame Park.

“Local providers can be so good at wasting money,” Cec continues, “telling outreach workers to put on a surgery whereby they spend an afternoon sat in a dusty hall with only two people turning up. It doesn’t have to be like that anymore.”

And with the ability to monitor response; for instance, by inviting users to log onto a Bluetooth platform whereby a code or voucher is sent to someone’s phone, any partner can track how many people have been using their service.

“Even if the message is something mundane like passing on information about direct debits or clearing up litter, this kind of delivery open eyes,” continues Tim. “People who would usually steer clear of community issues are now coming forward because, as a platform, they understand it and it’s convenient for them to access – in their own way, in their own time.”

Prime time scheduling

In terms of schedule, GPTV is carefully targeted. On air at 7am, early morning content is made relevant to the demographic of mothers taking their kids to school. At 11am subjects may be focused around kids, given that many are on a break from college and in the area, while evening campaigns could be adult-orientated, warning of the perils of drink, for instance. Barnet Homes retain the final say on all content and their outward expenditure on the project is minimal.

“Our biggest priority is content, not cost,” continues Charlie. “We still send out all the same newsletters and information documents, but GPTV is more than a supplement, it’s a resource in its own right, and a determined step away from association with Barnet Homes - it has its own brand and its own image. It’s young, dynamic and fun.”

And user feedback to this bite-sized information initiative has been phenomenal, hardly surprising when the residents themselves are contributing so much of the material, as Cec confirms: “User generated content is the most consumed variety of content on the internet. If Barnet Homes are blessed enough to have users wanting to put their material up, then great, it shows that people feel engaged and a part of something big.”

Coming up…

So where next for GPTV? Well, for Tim, the first job is to remind local press about their early predictions for the scheme. “When the newspapers came round they said they’d be back the following day to report on the screen being stolen, but it’s still there! We’re giving residents ownership of the channel and they want to ensure its lasting welfare as much as we do.

“The plan from here is to carry on extending and improving, so greater Bluetooth content, streaming GPTV into people’s homes over the internet, ease of uploads – it’s all about catching people on every platform. The end holy grail for the public sector is the mobile screen, so we’d like to get to the point where there is a WAP site as well.

“Our Facebook page already has American users checking us out, and the beauty of mobile content is that if a user receives something on Bluetooth and likes what they see, they then act as a virtual server, passing it on to mates.”

“It’s one of the most innovative projects I’ve ever been involved in,” concludes Cec. “It’s all about delivery and understanding how people consume their media, and I think we’ve absolutely achieved that.”

Jamie Wattrell, 16:

The best thing about GPTV is finding out about events going on in Grahame Park and in the local area. It has become really successful – there are a lot of people living on this estate and the majority of my friends talk about it.

I think most people are flattered that we have our own TV channel. And some of my mates on there are hilarious!

It shows too how much life is going on around the area and behind-the-scenes, and that is good to see and feel.

Nicole Renteria, 13:

The up-to-date stuff is a big thing, particularly with information about jobs and healthcare. For the younger generations this is a much better way for us to take in news.

I actually first heard about it through Facebook, and now spend as much time looking at it online as I do on the estate. Because of it, lots of people I know are getting more involved in local events. For future generations of residents I think Grahame Park TV will become the easiest and preferred way for them to ease themselves into living in the area. It’s a great thing.

Grahame Park TV on facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grahame-Park-TV/329690555791