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The Buzz

30 April 2020 · Categories: Communities Care, People Can, Small Good Stuff

Catalysts Harry Clarkson in Rotherham and Zoe Miller in Birmingham, work in partnership with their local authorities. They explain what they have been busy doing during lockdown and why!

We support the development of community enterprises in Birmingham and Rotherham and have seen first-hand the challenges that lockdown has brought for the people running them. All of the enterprises we know support people in really creative ways – but as most of what they do happens face to face, in community spaces, lockdown has meant a pause to business as usual. This has had a big impact on the people these enterprises usually support – all the usual routines are out of the window at the moment and everyone is missing seeing their friends and getting to do the things they love. It got us thinking about how the two of us can be most helpful during this time. As local Community Catalysts in our areas, it is our role to help enterprise leaders to do what they do safely and well, to think through ideas and to meet the needs of local people.

Everyone running an enterprise has had to get creative and think up new ways to do what they do…and quickly. We’ve seen some enterprise leaders create   online sessions with real success and it got us thinking – how can we help more people to access great, accessible resources online?

The Buzz is a way of joining the dots – connecting people who are locked down at home but still looking for inspiring activities with enterprises who have the energy and skills to offer these activities…albeit from a distance. The Buzz is a Facebook group where we share a different video every day. The videos are accessible and inclusive and share activities that people can do at home – things like art, cooking, fitness and learning. Each video is produced by one of the many fantastic community enterprises who have been supported by Community Catalysts.

One of the good things about online activities is that geography isn’t a barrier, so people can access videos from enterprises all over the UK – whether they live in Birmingham, Rotherham or any other part of the country! The Buzz puts all these videos in one place to make it easy for people to find and view them.

We would love you to join The Buzz Facebook group to see all the videos and like and comment. We want to see how people get on too, so why not post a photo under the video with you taking part in the activity?

To join the Facebook group, you will need to have a Facebook account. You will also need to read and agree to the group’s rules. We check everything on the group before it is posted and we won’t approve anything that is unkind – this keeps The Buzz a safe and enjoyable space for everyone.

Anyone who isn’t able to access the Facebook group can check our Small Good Stuff website where the videos will also be posted every week.

We can’t wait to start sharing some great activities and we look forward to seeing you get active, creative and having fun!


Catch up on 6 weeks of The Buzz here

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