United Way Virtual Tour: SLNRC
“Our community is so much stronger because you are in it”
The South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre (SLNRC) is an inclusive community space supporting South London; their mission is to empower the surrounding neighbourhoods and their residents as a leader in community engagement and development. The SLNRC works to provide youth, seniors, families, and immigrants, professional guidance and tools to achieve their full potentials and lead healthy lives.
With the COVID pandemic requiring the SLNRC building and Centres to close, their staff was forced to pivot some of their services to digital and work from home. Also rising to the circumstances, the South London Emergency Food Cupboard needed to move their supplies and locations, bringing on extraordinary support from United Way, local Parishes, the London Food Bank, and private donors.
rTraction and United Way worked together with StarTech.com and SLNRC to create the first-ever Virtual Tour of the SLNRC. The purpose of the tour was to increase participation in workplace fundraisers by highlighting the impact of United Way funded programs in the community.
The initiative inspired support and opened hearts and as well as the spirit of giving, raising $472,000!
A total of 6 safe remote-only digital tours were held, allowing participants to tour the SLNRC and meet several staff members. Participants heard the stories of impact directly from staff.
The event welcomed a total of 944 attendees with funding for the project provided by StarTech.com donating $50/participant; an incredible incentive for people to join in on the virtual tours.
The rTraction team was tasked with creating an interactive tour that would be engaging and inspiring over a limited 30 minute window. Opting to use Zoom worked well for the presentations, as we ran a combination of both pre-recorded and live talks.
By using an interactive tool called Mentimeter to facilitate audience participation, individuals were engaged and ready to take part in the interactive components while able to communicate via Zoom chat. A high participation rate reflected the interest and willingness of attendees to be a part of the presentations and the tour, despite Mentimeter being new to many people in the forum.
We incorporated Google Earth and Google Streetview to show locations of the community centres. By featuring iPhone recordings of the interiors, it gave the feel of an in-person and relatable ‘tour’.
As well, we showcased Facebook videos of the Creative Kitchens ‘behind the scenes’ and the stories of the Resource Centre staff; capturing their experiences and motivations to be a part of an incredible initiative.
All of the partners were thrilled with the results, having exceeded both attendees and funds raised. This was another exciting partnership for rTraction as the success of the Virtual Tours was an incredible team effort that called on our passion for technology and community collaboration. We’re very proud to have been a part of this initiative and to be able to contribute our expertise!
With over 1,114 community members attending the "VIRTUAL Seeing is Believing" Impact Tour, the project was recognized for a ChangeMaker Award (CMA) for Startech.com and the South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre (SLNRC). This was for their collaboration and innovative approach to inspiring support in a virtual world.
The CMA recognizes the incredible volunteerism and innovation of workplace champions and campaign teams within various workplaces across Elgin and Middlesex that support the United Way Elgin Middlesex Campaign.