Louis (Intro)
Hey there! My name is Louis, and you’re listening to Kakou Talk, a podcast by Kakou Technologies about community and accessibility where I sit down and talk to some key figures in our home of Chesterfield and Derbyshire, people who are all committed to positive social change. You’re listening to Episode 7 with our guest, Daniel Jones, from Derbyshire Voluntary Action. I hope you enjoy! This episode was recorded in August 2023.
Louis
Hello, and welcome to the seventh episode of Kakou Talk. It’s really nice to be doing this again. Like I keep saying in every episode, a little bit less regularly than I’d like to. But today, I’m sat with Dan Jone. Dan, how are you doing?
Dan
I’m good, thank you very much. Thanks for having me on.
Louis
That’s all right. Thank you for coming. Thanks for giving up your time for it. So, you know, first thing to get out of the way. Why don’t you tell me just a little bit about yourself and what you do and the nature of your work?
Dan
Alright, yeah, so, I’m Dan- or Daniel- Jones, interchangeable.
Louis
Which do you prefer?
Dan
Well, my friends all call me Dan. So I’m quite happy with that.
Louis
Well I’ll stay with that then.
Dan
At work it always seems to land on Daniel and it’s- sure. I don’t think I can change it now, it’s come too far!
Louis
Do you ever do Danny?
Dan
Yeah, my Dad calls me Danny.
Louis
Ah I see, I’ll stay with Dan, then.
Dan
(Laughs) But yeah, so I work for Derbyshire Voluntary Action. And I work as well on the community Chesterfield project, specifically, which is the link between the university and then the charity sector and volunteers and communities in the area. We cover, like, all of- Well, originally, it was Chesterfield. Health’s the name of the project, but it’s more and more expanded to cover all across Derbyshire, which is, which has been great, right? It’s really good to be able to access more communities, more groups. But I also do a core work for DVA. So if you’ve ever had someone that’s focused entirely on like marketing or communications, so I’ve started doing a little bit of core work for them, to make sure that… the noise is getting out. And we’re getting through the veil of what we’re talking about, what activity is going on, because DVA can constitute a lot of different projects, or different aims, different teams, as well as then doing the infrastructure and the support they offer.
Louis
So your role, yourself the work you do in the DVA, what is your daily routine like? What you’re your day-to-day look like? What do you handle?
Dan
I work in, like, I do marketing communications. So I’ve said before to people, I’ve gone to events, and I feel a little bit fraudulent in that, I’m not like- I’m working for a charity, but I’m not like directly helping people. But yeah, I definitely, you know, I’ve worked in this industry for a while-
Louis
I can relate to that, doing the marketing for Kakou, and I always feel like- I’m really proud of the work we do and the work I kind of advertise and market and stuff. But it was a little bit just like-
Dan
Like you’re not on the ground.
Louis
Yeah, no, not like Ann is.
Dan
Yeah, I went to the student nursing times awards earlier in the year. And it was like a great big conference hall-like Ballroom in London, full of inspirational, like educated students. And then like, being from a charity, I was like a minority, but it’s all these people up for great accolades of all the stuff they’re doing to change, like how nursing works and how education works in the field. And I’m just there going, ‘I just talk about this’. (Laughs)
Louis
(Laughs)
Dan
I don’t- I don’t go into wards and mop up the mess and save people’s lives. Yeah, I couldn’t do that, I’d just fall over. I know my weakness. So yeah, my day to day is a lot of communications, a lot of like, reaching out and trying to make new contacts to try to get the word out to sort of design for social media. And like blogs, press releases, articles. And all that, like really, we- one of our core goals is to try to strengthen the charity sector in the voluntary sector. So a lot of it is talking to groups who might not have anyone that’s got any experience of doing like posters, for instance, if they’re running an event, like, going ‘well, what can I do to help?’ and it’s combining that with what we do as a charity with what they need. So yeah, lots of lots of sharing the good stories, really. So a lot of lot of reading, a lot of writing, and a lot of a lot of trying to wrangle people’s arms of what we’re putting out there. You know, there is obviously a limited, limited budget with charities, so trying to squeeze as much out of everything as possible funding wise to make sure that you know, that people know what we’re doing and know the groups that we’re supporting, you know, and just really making everyone a little bit a little bit more in the spotlight and shout about the good news that’s out there really because there’s an awful lot. This is this first charity I’ve worked for, for I’ve been a full time carer previously so I’ve experienced you know, what it’s like being a carer and the hoops you’ve got to jump through. But yeah, definitely working for a charity you see how many groups out there how many people that are really making a huge difference? I had a conversation with two ladies, one from Derbyshire and one from Nottinghamshire carers association the other day at a conference and they were like sort of banding around numbers and being from that background, like being a carer and then going… unpaid carers is basically another NHS, like it was it saves the government billions in what it would be if people had to be paid to do that job. And yeah, it’s kind of just getting on with your life, I think a lot of the time and don’t see what’s beneath the surface and how many groups and how many organisations and charities really are keeping a lot of people afloat. It is great to be involved in right to make sure that’s a success.
Louis
Yeah. Because I found that when I started working at Kakou two years ago, I remember thinking like, it was like an entirely you know- caring about accessibility and caring about like, inclusivity and disabled engineering and stuff like that, I think that it’s something that everyone at a baseline kind of cares about.
Dan
Yeah, everyone gets it.
Louis
Yeah. And then when you get involved in you kind of, see like this world beneath the surface of how the whole system works and all the kind of like strands going out in the people we don’t think about. I remember that being like a real eye opening experience for me. (Laughs)
Dan
Yeah, my first like, DVA forum with a lot of like little charities and groups we support and then the- all the projects we do or support give you like a little bit of an update on what was going on. And like I’ve always known that like National Lottery Funds, charities, right? That’s just, of course, something everyone knows- we don’t realise how much and how important it is. And as these charities go, like, we’ve regenerated, like this entire village based on funding from national lottery.
Louis
No way?
Dan
We’re doing this suicide, like awareness campaign, all funded by National Lottery, and it’s just on and on. It’s like, wow, the, the amount that goes in like, we- obviously I’m going to sing their praises, because we’re funded by National Lottery Community Trust, but yeah, gosh, it was such an eye opener for me as well coming into it from the other side. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, a big a big step.
Louis
Because the DVA, when I first started working here, there was so many, like, I say to Ann every time I talk to her, like, there’s so many abbreviations in this job, every day, I kind of have to think about, you know, the DVA, the this, the that, the ABC, and it gets so confusing, but I do remember DVA being there from the very start. And even though Kakou and the DVA have never been like interlinked, as such, it feels like we’ve had a lot of crossover in our projects and marketing and stuff. Do you remember the first time you worked with us?
Dan
The first time I met Ann was SocialFuse last year in September. And then it was like a conversation- an open room with Ann from Kakou, with Jenny, who’s the director of our project at Community Chesterfield, I think Junction Arts were there. There was, I think somebody from like a, like a holistic sort of therapy place. But it ended up like opening up into the room. So the conversation was just joined in by who was there, which was, which was really lovely. It was very much like a like a think tank of what we can do to help like each other in local communities. It’s very, very positive affirmation stuff working with charities. (Laughs)
Louis
You know, I was asked to moderate that event but I didn’t do it. I didn’t think I could, because I didn’t- in a way how you described like, you just write about these things. You kind of feel a bit fraudulent when I’m actually in rooms with these people. I’ve had to go to meetings, kind of regarding a lot of social enterprises and charities in Derbyshire and Chesterfield before, just more to see how it works. But also sometimes instead of Ann, who couldn’t make it. Yeah, and I can’t help but feel like the most fraud person in the room. (Laughs)
Dan
(Laughs) Like, a lot of a lot of what I do, like, like we’ve talked about is, is sharing the story. So I’ll ask people in my, like, my teams or charities and we’re like, well, what have you been doing? Let me let me basically grill them for the story of what’s happened. And it’s not all the time that I get to go to the events and take pictures and learn from it. But I went to experts by experience, it’s something we provide to the University. So we get volunteers from our community groups that have got some sort of lived experience of like, either like something’s happened to them socially or sort of like a serious medical condition. And I went to my first one not too long ago, just a couple of months, just lined up perfectly, I was the only one that could go into the office to support them as I can’t call. And then there’s a young lads called James. He’s only 22 and he was the fifth person in the world born with his condition. It’s like he’s now one of 10. But he’s been in and out of hospital like for operations and for serious sort of instances, pretty much every year of his life. And we were sat in a room of student nurses at the Chesterfield site for the University of Derby and just talking with him and his mum who’s his carer about like the difference communication and compassion has made to them and the things that really you don’t necessarily expect to be taught in the classroom. Yeah, and just like seeing the impact on the students faces and then having like a question and answer session afterwards. And just seeing their eyes be open to go this the difference we can make, where if he’s going in, it’s like, yeah, this is your 200th visit to the hospital in the last year or whatever, and going… offering him a drink, letting his mum sit down, have a cup of tea, talking to him, rather than just his carer, you know, all these things that like, makes such a difference. And you could see people getting like emotional.
Louis
Yeah, I bet.
Dan
I think that’s, that’s like one of the really, really strong things we do is we make these connections. And I think a lot of a lot of students and a lot of people that will come into the sessions we do will take these lessons and go and go, wow, this is going to make a difference to how I perceive a patient or, you know, or another student or someone that’s from a community. And that’s the big, that’s the big win for us is making sure that those connections and those impacts really like change how, like our future health care professionals will be- if one of the students in that room out of out of 20 of them, say if one of them ends up being at like your high level of NHS, that could influence an awful lot, as well as influencing like, just them as nurses, right, when they’re qualified and going well, you’ve now seen something closer, you had a really in-depth discussion. Will that change how you treat patients? For the for the better? And yeah, it’s great, great to see those personal things upfront, as well. Which I don’t always get to go to. I do like your- the other big things when we go to conferences, but yeah, seeing the ground level of people interacting and making those connections with students or, or with charities and infrastructures all together is definitely worth it. Definitely worth it.
Louis
Yeah, what you said about getting people… You know, like you said that if we can get people with these conditions, people who are like- spent their entire lives in the hospital, for you to get them into a position within the NHS then the change that could make is- it’s unfathomable.
Dan
Exactly. Yeah.
Louis
I think that like that is a facet of our work in accessibility. And it’s in a slightly different but very similar way that I just absolutely never considered before I started working here, and that is accessibility is not literally just- and it does encompass these things- but it’s not just the physical accessibility for disabled people or like the support for people with invisible disabilities. It’s actually like, the wealth of opportunities available for everyone, no matter their financial background, their cultural background. And just getting them into like higher positions, giving them a chance to change things by you know, by simply being in those places.
Dan
Yeah, it’s interesting.
Louis
So a lot of our work does concern you know, making sure that children with special educational needs have the support academically, but also, it is very, like a viable thing for them to enter trades and the arts, and things like- not being limited.
Dan
Yeah, it’s about building the opportunities to give them exactly the options they want. If they’re there, you’ve succeeded, right?
Louis
Exactly, yeah. This is the thing, isn’t it? It’s- you deserve to be able to pursue what you want, you know, I mean, I feel like sometimes when- and when I say this I don’t have any, like proof or anecdotal evidence, but you do kind of get the sense that sometimes people who are limited from those opportunities when the opportunities are presented to them, they still feel a little bit limited that still feels a little bit within a box, in a way. And, yeah, you know, that really, that was something that really impacted me when I started doing this work.
Dan
Yeah, I think I think like working with the people we work with, yeah, we see the equity that is out there a little bit more. And a lot of people presume that because you know, there’s places supporting different groups and different communities and different people that have had like, you know, struggles or obstacles, that it makes it just as easy for them. It’s like, it still doesn’t. There’s a there’s a big jump between supporting them and getting everyone to have like that same level of equity, that same accessibility to opportunities that are out there.
Louis
Yeah. So talking about- I mean, I was just talking about something that affected when I started doing this job, how did you get into this kind of work?
Dan
So I said I was a carer when, when my… I’ve got two kids, I’ve got a five and a six year old now and when my daughter was born, their Mum became seriously, seriously ill and looked like she was going to be permanently disabled for life. There was an awful lot of like, misunderstanding or just ignorance about what was going on with her- not to say like, you know, that people didn’t get it but we went through like CT scans and MRI scans and so many different specialists. So I was working for like a construction company doing like digital media stuff doing like your SEO at the time. But she was so ill that I had to stop work to look after a toddler, a newborn and her.
Louis
Oh, man.
Dan
So that was that was my life for a few years. And, like, I’m a really very positive person, like, I’m an eternal optimist, so when my little boy was born, I’d gone back to university. So I was doing like my final year when he was born. So I got to sit there and write my dissertation while he sat on my lap and like chewed my shirt or whatever.
Louis
(Laughs)
Dan
So when, so when I had to stop working, I was like, well, all these things that I wouldn’t have got to do with my daughter, because I was in work for so many hours. I’m getting to do now. So like, I can see the good the good part of it. Which is nice. But yeah, they’re their Mum’s of health, sort of went up and down for a few years, and sort of stabilised at like a manageable level. But being her carer like our relationship changed a lot. So we split up, but I kept the cat and the kids. She kept the dog, you know, working around two young kids- and my daughter was obviously still at nursery at the time. So last Summer. Well, earlier in the year, last year, I started looking for what I can do around like childcare and school hours in nursery. And then I think last Summer, there was an advert for the role that I’m in now. Nothing was refreshing on Facebook or LinkedIn so I decided to give it a couple of days as I was on holiday in Wales with my kids, like seeing our family where I’m from. And that just popped up and I was like, oh, that’s that sounds like a- you know, fits my job description fits what I know to do, and is in an area that I’d like to explore. And so yeah I applied and the week my daughter started full time school was the week I started.
Louis
God, that’s a real story!
Dan
Yeah, it was properly like, she went in, there were a few tears in the first day and then off I went to the office for my first day it was… it’s been life changing. I think being able to, like, know that the people I’m supporting, I’m helping and making a difference. And the flexibility to like work from home. And around school hours. It’s been like, really life changing to get me back on track. You know, I’ve got a lot of stuff on hold willingly for my family, and it’s nice to be back in the workforce really, and doing something I really enjoy doing because I’ve always I’ve been in like, different sort of IT roles for quite a long time. You’ll laugh at my age- I was part of the team from Halifax that launched the first online mortgage applications.
Louis
Oh, really? Yeah. I think I’m too young to even know what they are. (Laughs)
Dan
(Laughs) Yeah.
Louis
I think we’ve discovered the rift here.
Dan
I get away with looking younger than I am, but not that young I think. (Laughs) So yeah, so that’s how I got into it. And obviously, having worked with a couple of charities while I was a carer, really like opened my eyes to it. So Derbyshire Carers Association supported me as a home carer while I was doing that. I knew at the time there was this like a million bits of paperwork to fill out for PIP to try to like, I was trying to work out how to- how I’d pay rent and stuff and support my family while I’m also- can’t work because I’m like looking after them 24/7. So It was really like, a difficult thing to go through, like very challenging. But the Derbyshire Carers Association, I think I got in touch with them through DVA funnily enough, came out to my house and a lovely lady came round, and basically did an interview with me about my needs as a carer and they were actually like ‘what would you need?’ You know, what, if you had this pot of money, what would you do? And I’m like, I’d, you know, I take the kids to this place, or I’d take my partner in time to this place, or I’d get access to this. And she’s like, ‘no, no, stop. Not anyone else-
Louis
You.
Dan
You. You’re the carer, and you’ve just put everything on hold, and you’re being left behind what would make a difference to you, just what makes you happier?’ And I was like, I hadn’t even thought about it. And I was like, wow, I’ve just sat there for a minute. I thought this was you know, what would help me with accessibility. So I get the kids somewhere because I’m trying to walk, you know, two prams and a wheelchair. And then they did put me in touch with like, sort of support groups that would do that, which was fantastic. But also it was a- it was more of a, you know, let’s focus on making sure that the carers in our community are actually being looked after. And I’m a proper nerdy guy, I paint like, little model soldiers. And I got like a massive pain set me from this grant which I still use, like, five years later. But yeah, and that’s that kind of set me up to go, I really want to do something that’s making more of a difference. I’ve always enjoyed what I do like, you know, I like talking, I like communication. But I’ve never, never worked for a charity. And I’ve never done things that I really think make a difference. I’ve met with someone about websites, I get more visitors or they get more customers… But it doesn’t really like, it’s not you don’t get the same, the same feeling that you’re doing something good in, like, in a society that I think sorely needs more people like that at the moment. So just, it all lined up together really nicely
Louis
I’m sure someone who was in like, your very specific circumstance, you probably got a very comprehensive understanding of the helpful and the unhelpful things that charities like that can provide.
Dan
Oh, yeah, definitely.
Louis
And I’m sure that’s probably coloured your work somewhat, hasn’t it?
Dan
Yeah.
Louis
Because you’ve been, very much so, on the other end of it.
Dan
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Like I’ve had a conversation with some student midwives the other week, when Princess Anne came to visit the University.
Louis
Yeah, I remember you mentioning.
Dan
And while we were waiting, there’s a couple of student midwives in the class, in the big room we were in. And they were talking about the, the size of the challenges I think that people go through and the unexpected when you come to birth and complications. Jenny sort of put me on the spot, which I didn’t mind at all. She apologised later, and I was like, ‘no, no, I’m quite happy to talk about it’. And she’s like, would you mind sharing your story about like, when the kid’s Mum got ill? What happened? And like, how you had to cope with it? And these student midwives were like, wow. And I’m like, Yeah, you know, so my parents had come over from South Wales to like, look after my little lad while I was in hospital. And it was, it was like a roller coaster of emotions and being called back to hospital to say goodbye one day, which didn’t happen, which is fine, I guess.
Louis
God, you actually got the call?
Dan
Yeah, it hits you in the feels, right? When you’re called up and it’s like, six o’clock, you’ve gone home to go get changed and have a shower and see my lad and stuff and get some new clothes. And then they call me back up and said, ‘You need to come and say bye, I think it’s like, you know, we’re on the way out.’ And then arrive back in with a crash cart in the room and doctors everywhere and just- just giving that that story to student midwives, and they’re like, Wow, we never see like, we never really consider all the things a Dad goes through as part of the birthing process. And it’s like, oh, yeah, I went through it all (Laughs).
Louis
(Laughs)
Dan
I think every everything that could have gone wrong, up to like, the worst scenario did and I came out the other side, I’ve got two wonderful kids. And I’m doing this and it’s led me to doing something that I’m really loving doing like yeah, I’ve always enjoyed work, like I said, but now I’m loving what I do.
Louis
That’s great, I’m really, I’m very interested in this. Usually when I ask people how they got into their jobs they’re just like, ‘Oh I thought it was interesting!’ (Laughs) But you’ve got a real story, you know?
Dan
Yeah, I think I’ve got I’ve definitely got a story of like, having been on the side that needs help. And it’s just happened to like, align that it was DVA and Community Chesterfield, and like, Derbyshire Carers Association and stuff, stuff that we support, and we’re part of- happened to be part of my story. So it’s made it very personal. I’m really invested into like, wanting to make sure that we do give like the right support to people, that we can like signpost and make positive changes to outlooks in how people go about like their lives after university that if students weren’t back in school, just go in and meet in all these groups and going, ‘you’re doing fantastic work’, basically. There’s so many out there. I think we’ve been rehashing like our database of DVA memberships and like, sort of charities and community groups, and there’s over 500 just that we’re in contact with and that’s just in Derbyshire. And we think that that’s only probably about a third or a quarter of the groups. So there’s still more out there. There’s still people out there that you could use some help. Could use some guidance. So, you know, the search continues, it’s a little bit Star Trek. (Laughs)
Louis
(Laughs) What was the first sort of major project you were involved with the DVA when you started there?
Dan
I had a bit of a rude awakening when I- when I joined. I think it was like two weeks in, I had COVID for the first time that was uh… so I’ve always kind of been just with my kids. I live like, on the edge of edge of the countryside, like far enough out from town. I had an awful bout of COVID and then came back and we had the volunteer sector marketplace. So it was an event we ran at the University. And essentially, we presented a bunch of like lectures or short lectures, seminars, presentations, however you want to sort of skew it to just do with nurses and to faculty members as well, and support staff. So we put them all in the room with basically people like David Radford from the volunteer centre just around the corner from you guys. From Thrive. I think Ann has come in for something similar before for us, but yeah, but not this one. And just explaining to students like the impact and what they can do with the voluntary sector with charities and then putting them in a huge room on Kellison road caster hall with about 20-something different charities all with sort of stalls and with like a set of tasks to go and do. So the students have to basically- as part of like their, their public health module- had to go and interview the different groups and find out what would help them, how they’d approach different things. So it’s very much like interactive like a marketplace, but also, like learning resources and research as part of it. And that was, that was… that was great. And it was, it was like our first big event that I’ve been involved in. And yeah, the students coming out of there going, ‘I didn’t realise you could work for charities’, and it’s like, finding out those different charities that are very reliant on medical staff or people with that training and that experience and they’re now walking out that room and reevaluating their career path and you know, do you go work in private medicine? Do you go and work for a charity? Do you go to work for the NHS? Where can you make the most difference? And where will it appeal to you?
Louis
You’ve suddenly introduced them to this, like, entirely different third row of options.
Dan
So many of them, so many of them were just like, completely, like, eye opened to, like the possibility of working with or directly for charities. Like, Dave Radford- his presentation was very much him saying, No, he used to be a volunteer. And then that led to him being employed by by a volunteer centre, and he’s like, ‘I never realised it was a thing either.’ So it’s definitely something that’s got to get out there. But we think we had, like, 350-odd Student Nurses through the day. And yeah, just really seeing the impact and seeing, obviously, all these charities then get to, get a lot of interesting sort of feedback of how student nurses might think that different things might affect them, what they think might work for them, and to really like, get their voice out as well, into the university setting where there’s lecturers and the students all now talking about, you know, the Carers Association or link CVS or Junction Arts and lots of different conversations happening because of it sort of which I think carried on for like, a long time afterwards. We’ve got students that were that were there that are now like looking at placements with places like EMH, or joined Up Care Derbyshire and all their gear, it’s starting that thread and seeing how far it goes and what positive impact you can make. So that was that was really good to do. From my point of view, it was lots of lots of random people, lots of taking the right pictures, like, framing it right. Making sure we were gaining, like, impactful sort of comments and feedback. So then I can then write press releases and blog articles about it and share the story and then prep for the next one.
Louis
Yeah. That was your first big one.
Dan
That was my first big one. That was the first design process beforehand of like doing all, like, the things like banners for the events and marketing materials to send out. I’d never worked with Canva before.
Louis
Oh, I love Canva.
Dan
Oh my god yeah. I guess I’d wrestled with like Adobe suites and various other things in the past and now I’m like, they could just go in the bin, I just use Canva for so much stuff.
Louis
Oh, the second I started using Canva- I know there’s kind of like a joke about it in graphic design circles and stuff that Canva is a bit like, kiddy, but I I’ve never enjoyed my work more than when it’s like- I get to make a Canva poster today!
Dan
(Laughs)
Louis
And I just spend like seven hours just making the worst looking thing you’ve ever seen just for fun and then tidying it up.
Dan
Yeah, but like it’s like, I think, I think that’s the good thing about technology is a lot of… when I first started looking at like web design there was the start of ‘what you see is what you get’ like, that style, so front page had come out… oh… I don’t know what year that was. It’s probably not- don’t talk about what year that was, probably a long time ago.
Louis
(Laughs) Okay.
Dan
Yeah, front page. And there was another one as well. I can’t remember the name of it off the top my head. But yeah, they were the first like, styles of ‘what you see what you get’ editing software, or platforms. And that was for web design. And obviously, it’s expanded and expanded as we’ve gone, right? And now there’s stuff you can do without having to sink like, hours and hours into work and how to use like the different Adobe tools or the different tools for software. You don’t just go in and sort of learn really quickly to a level where… I think like, I think I Canvas probably one of the best things for like, small charities and for community groups.
Louis
Oh yeah, definitely.
Dan
Because it’s free.
Louis
It’s very easy to make something appealing, that’s clean and professional looking.
Dan
Right. Looks clean, looks professional and crisp, and gets you noticed, basically. All for, you know, a couple of hours and you’re basically there. And then you just continue to advance from there, a couple more hours in and you feel like you’re a pro at it. (Laughs)
Louis
(Laughs)
Dan
It’s definitely a brilliant tool and especially because… there’s quite a lot out there that’s free for charities, like I use Monday.com, I use Canva, but there is quite a few things that are out there, just extra little things to make your lives easier and saves you some time as you go, which is good. It’s good to see these big companies out there making very professional products, making sure it’s accessible to communities out there that perhaps otherwise wouldn’t go ‘Yeah, I can drop a thousand pounds on adobe suites’, it’s very different.
Louis
I found that like, when I started doing the marketing for Kakou, I don’t have any kind of graphic design background or anything, and I had written to deadlines before and I had written professionally before in magazines and stuff but I had like, realised when I started designing posters and I started designing motion graphics and stuff, everything I did for so long was such a bodge-job because I was so committed to like, not teaching myself how to do it properly. I remember… for this podcast, for the Kakou Talk podcast- when you look it up on Spotify, the main thing on it, is this kind of gradient from orange to white with the logo I made for it on, but I didn’t know how to do a gradient, because I don’t use Photoshop, I use Photopea in the online browser, which is a good resource because it’s basically Photoshop but in-browser and free, it’s Photopea. And um… I didn’t know how to do the gradient so what I did was, I would make it orange, then I would make a brush that was really big, made the softness really high-
Dan
(Laughs)
Louis
And then, I’d put the middle of the brush in the bottom left corner of it and then using the line at the bottom of the trackpad to keep my finger straight I’d drag straight across it so it looked like a gradient but wasn’t actually a gradient.
Daniel
(Laughs)
Louis
Just lots of stuff like that. Things like Canva, especially when you don’t have a very visually artistic brain, it can really make stuff like that easier. Some of the stuff I’ve made, I’ve impressed myself with it, like, ‘oh, this is the first time I’ve ever done stuff like this’.
Dan
Yeah.
Louis
Those kind of tools are kind of like, invaluable, and I can imagine for charities as well, when they’re staffed by people who are just volunteers, that stuff has got to be a Godsend.
Dan
Yeah, because people come from so many different backgrounds to work for charities or to volunteer and you don’t always have somebody who’s great at accounts or great at design work, and anything that helps there is just like, a lifesaver. And it’s the money, and the time, and the resources, you don’t want to spend money on a professional editing suite if you don’t have anyone to use it, right? So what now? Do we send someone on a training course so they know how to use this thing? And you end up blowing your whole budget for whatever you wanted to do just to get someone competent enough to do the poster.
Louis
Yeah, sure.
Dan
(Laughs) But there are cheats out there like Canva that can be picked up by anyone and because technology is so in our face and we use it so much- or some of us use it so much- it’s easier to translate what you do on Facebook into on browsing into Instagram into how to use Canva and how to make a really crisp, pro looking image to use for your next event or something, you know. It’s definitely one of my top recommends.
Louis
I love Canva, whenever I have to do anything in Canva I get so excited, so happy.
Dan
(Laughs)
Louis
So, yeah. Just before we wrap up this conversation- it’s already been over half an hour- wow, thirty-three minutes- What’s going on at the DVA right now? Is there anything coming up? Anything special you’re looking forward to?
Dan
Yeah, well, we just sent out a press release, we’ve just had Juliet Grace join us as the Deputy CEO and Operations Manager. She’s come from like, a background of working for the National Trust and I believe the last thing she did was in Sheffield, based in a thing called Green Estates at Sheffield Manor Lodge. So she’s got like, an environmental but also a really ethical and sustainability and accessibility background where they were managing these green spaces and making sure that basically, people with accessibility needs could access the exact same stuff as everybody else. And she’s really passionate about what she’s doing and I think that’s going to make some great changes where she wants to, perhaps, shake things up a little bit but in a very positive way. Obviously we’ve just had the Royal visit as we were saying earlier, that was really nice, obviously Princess Anne only went to a few places around Derbyshire and we were lucky to be one of them.
Louis
There you go!
Dan
Got to meet her in person- She is very, very, very savvy.
Louis
Oh, really?
Dan
Yeah, yeah. The first thing she did was, we were in a room with student midwives, some of the local NHS staff of the antenatal class whoa are at the University of Derby with us and then Breastfeeding Support Derbyshire, and then Mums who go to their classes, and the first thing she did- she went straight to the Mums and was quizzing them, ‘Do you actually come here? Where was your baby born? Does this group exist?’ basically.
Louis
Oh, Wow.
Dan
She was very clearly wanting to know ‘is this a set up for me, or are you genuinely users of these services?’
Louis
That’s crazy, oh my God.
Dan
So yeah, it was genuine so we were okay, right?
Louis
Well yeah it was genuine but that’s mad-
Dan
Yeah!
Louis
For someone to just come up to you, someone like that, and just ask you ‘are you real?!’
Dan
(Laughs) Essentially, yeah!
Louis
(Laughs)
Dan
‘Is this a setup just for me as a good PR opportunity or do you actually come to this University with these charity groups to get help? Oh, you do? Okay. Now let’s have a conversation.’
Louis
Oh my God.
Dan
But it was really nice, and yeah, definitely different. But for things we’ve got coming up, we’ve got the training and teaching we do that Community Chesterfield runs coming up in a couple of weeks, by Andrew from AWD Developments, which is very kind of, business-y and work oriented, so the next one he’s doing is about delegation. I know he’s done ones in the past about, like, managing your workload, dealing with difficult circumstances. So, that’s coming up and that’s great, and he’s followed by a couple of people from Derby, and they’re nice, 45 minute remote online training sessions where you can drop in, have a cup of tea while you have this training session that’s interactive. After Andrew’s finished there’ll be people from the University dealing with Digital Marketing, and then Leadership, and all the lecturers who have joined us from the University of Derby have been like, spectacular trainers who really, really know their stuff and get people involved and interested, so that’s great from the Community Chesterfield side of things. And there’s the Mental Health Liaison team from DVA starting to work out a plan for suicide awareness week, coming up in September, and they did a really profound exhibition last year, The Last Photo, which is about suicide and suicide survivors and the families who were left behind, and they’re definitely working on something to watch out for. I can’t say for sure what or when that will be yet but yeah.
Louis
I think I might be aware of it, yeah, just a little bit. If it’s the same thing I’m thinking of, then yeah, I’m aware of it.
Dan
Yeah, definitely still in the planning stage and I’m only allowed to say so much! I’ve been told to only say so much, it’s not that I’m keeping secrets. (Laughs)
Louis
(Laughs) Yeah.
Dan
But yeah, having seen how active people were last year with The Last Photo I can say they’re looking to do something similar.
Louis
Oh, then yeah, we’re definitely thinking of the same thing, yeah.
Dan
Yeah. And along those lines as well, the baton of hope has just finished passing through the country.
Louis
What’s the Baton Of Hope?
Dan
It’s about suicide awareness-
Louis
Oh, okay?
Dan
So, it looks like the Olympic torch because it was made by the same people, and it’s going from city to city, I think it’s finished it’s tour of the UK and it’s now in mainland Europe, but basically there are events on in different cities and it’s basically like a relay of sorts between different charities, different, celebrities-
Louis
Oh, that’s cool.
Dan
But it’s all about raising that awareness, making sure people are having those conversations and going ‘look, having his conversation now, maybe next week that stops your friend from going down that road.’
Louis
Sure.
Dan
And Ellie, Who has joined Rachel on the Mental Health Liaison team was our representative at the event in Sheffield when it went through, and also runs a choir, who have done the theme song- the anthem- for it, they’ve recorded a single for it, and that will be released.
Louis
What’s it called?
Dan
I can’t remember the name of the actual thing, but it will be released by the date of the Baton and it’ll be shared and it’s just really, that positive affirmation of ‘it’s okay to talk about it’ you know, ‘it’s alright to not be okay, it’s alright to not struggle’ and, you know, talk about it. Because so many people are in different circumstances that might be difficult and the more we share, the easier it gets.
Louis
Yeah.
Dan
And yeah, Ellie has been involved with that and obviously Rachel is there as well, but yeah, lots of different projects all doing really important things in the community, and highlighting big, big issues that the more we talk about, the easier it is to access help or to get over it if it’s something you’re struggling with personally, so yeah. Big things ahead I think.
Louis
Sounds like you’re doing some really big work, there.
Dan
Yeah, I hope so. (Laughs)
Louis
It’s been really good talking to you.
Dan
Thanks very much, you as well!
Louis
Alright, so from me, Louis and from Dan, thank you for listening.
Dan
Cheers, bye!
Louis
Buh-bye!
END
