I recently had the great privilege to speak to a small group of like minded professionals on the subject of community engagement. This has led to several requests from those wanting to know how to get started.
I am not an expert in anything very much (possibly excepting Newcastle United history and Tolkein!), so this is just my story and my experiences along with some tips as to what works for me and my team and what doesn't.
Firstly a little background:
When Beacon DentalCare was set up, it was always our intention to be actively involved in our local community. In those days this involved:
- Contacting local artists and getting them to put their art on the walls ( free art for me, exposure for the artists, interest for the clients). We did not ever charge a commission and we continue to sell 1 or 2 pictures a month. We now also sell a decent range of greetings cards and postcards.
- Contacting Local schools and nurseries and arranging trips to visit them, taking with us an Oral Health message (more later!)
- The occasional charity "event"- Dress up for Dentaid, and a few local events
So far so good, but not amazing. We were quite pleased with ourselves but it was not quite what we had in mind.
In 2010 , a friend of mine who worked with a local charity asked me if I would consider letting him use our large derelict back garden. ( about 1/3 acre that we had always intended to turn into a garden for our team, patients and community). Onside advocacy work with Adults with learning difficulties to give them purpose and training. The Beacon Garden project was born. We signed over the use of the garden space to the charity, and they are still there twice a week all year around, growing vegetables, learning horticulture and using the space for events.
This is a link to a short video filmed in the garden :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37JCc1_J9w8
The garden project lit a spark of an idea. With the help of Kevin Rose we decided that we wanted to become famous as the Dentists that CARE. We created Beacon DentalCare Care 2011 culminting in our Shining Light awards. It was our intention to work with a different charity or community group each month .
We asked our clients and friends for ideas and offered the practice space inside and out to be used by different groups. We got carried away! At the end of 2011 we had worked in various different ways with 26 different groups and helped to raise more than £11000.
The Shining Light awards intended to recognise local unsung heroes, and we had a ceremony at the practice with prizes to honour our winners.
Some of the things we did:
- Macmillan Coffee Morning
- Acquired a mascot- Billy the Beacon Bear
- Fancy Dress up days for Dentaid
- Hosted events for Onside
- Various collections
- Hosted a quilt exhibition (National Quilting Challenge!)
- and an Art show
- Scouts used the space for charity car washing
- Provided Dentistry for Belorussian kids affected by the Chernobyl disaster
- Displays focussing on different charities including MNDA and Parkinsons
- and more.....
After that we took a break and focussed on a smaller number of charities and events and regular sponsored events ( cycling, running, Triathlon's, charity work in Morocco). Much more manageable!
Last year we re launched the Shining Light awards with the help of an Events Organiser, and made it much bigger and better and more professional. We enlisted the help of local celebrities as judges and local companies for prizes and had the Mayor officiate at the ceremony. Lots of publicity, lots of feel good warm fuzziness!
It is not difficult to do, it just needs a caring, giving open outlook and some ingenuity. Sounds like most dentists I know.
All of the things we have done generate:
- Goodwill
- Free Advertising
- Profile
- Warm fuzziness
- Free news articles, radio and TV and international internet coverage
- Love and support from your team and patients
- More profit
In part 2 I will share my ideas on how to do it.
Till next time
Dx
Amazing blog. You're one in a million x
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