Upbeat Communities are an awesome charity based in Derby, UK. They exist to help refugees settle and rebuild their lives in the UK.
I created this booklet while working as the charity's Communications and Fundraising Officer (a position I held for three years).
The challenges were:
-how to condense all of the charity's different projects into one booklet
-how to emphasise the human nature of the work
-how to tell real stories without endangering people who had fled persecution
Challenge 1: how to condense all of the charity's different projects into one booklet
Challenge 2: how to emphasise the human nature of the work
Working closely with the Chief Executive, the solution I came up with was to focus on four individuals who have participated in Upbeat's work.
By going personal, we were able to emphasise the individual, whilst threading together the various projects into four distinct narratives.
Challenge 3: how to tell real stories without endangering people who had fled persecution
This was a very real concern. When creating this booklet, I had a responsibility to represent people's lived experience without compromising their security.
The Chief Executive and I made the decision to use alternative names and copyright-free stock photos alongside the stories. Although some of the individuals interviewed were happy for us to use their own name and photo, we felt that this was the safest option given the level of personal information contained in the stories.
Elsewhere in the booklet, for example the front cover, I incorporated real photos of Upbeat participants who had given photo consent.
The colour scheme for the booklet flowed from the Upbeat Communities logo.
Thanks so much for your time! I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments.
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Find out more about the amazing work of Upbeat Communities by clicking here.
