This week on the Unity Pie blog we wanted to show you some of the behind the scenes work we have done with one of our amazing partner organisations.
Over the summer the team at Arup partnered with Unity Works to deliver a workshop tailored to our Team Pie trainees on how to use social media to promote our brand and tell our stories. We interviewed Arup to hear their perspective….
Hi Nuala, could you introduce yourself?
I am an inclusive design consultant working at Arup, (pictured bottom left). Most of my job is about helping to make spaces and places more accessible for disabled people. We also do a lot of community engagement and outreach.
Arup has been working with the Elfrida Rathbone charity for a long time, and my team helped to create the Catherine Capaldi awards. That’s how we met the Unity Pies team, who won the award, (read the blog on our award here).
What was covered in the workshop?
We ran sessions about making a five-year business plan and marketing the business on social media. The Unity Pies team wrote a brand vision in the workshop.
We had a brainstorming session for marketing ideas, thinking about how the team could use social media, videos, photos and techniques to create a brand identity and collaborate with other people.
To help out we had Russell Smith, from Dad in a Shed as well as Arup's marketing experts.
What did you think were the best bits?
I had the most fun in the brainstorming sessions. It was great to hear how ambitious the whole team is. Someone said “I want to see the pies on the shelves at Sainsbury’s supermarket”, someone else wanted to open their own store. There’s so much potential in the Unity Pies idea.
What was your reaction to meeting the team?
So much enthusiasm! Everyone from Arup who participated said afterwards how much fun they had. The Unity Pies group aren’t afraid to participate and they have a lot of ambition. They are very good at selling their pies so I also left feeling quite hungry.
What do you hope will happened as a result?
I hope that the team will keep working together to grow their business, and I hope Arup will be able to provide more support in the future. I hope Unity Works can make more partnerships with other local businesses and make a statement about what people with learning disabilities can achieve. And one day I hope I walk past a Unity Pies shop and can pick one off the shelf at Sainsbury’s.
Thanks to Nuala, the team at Arup for their inputs.
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