Community Impact Initiative Launched!
Recently, with a little bit of flexibility at my disposal regarding my working hours and availability, I decided that I wanted to to be able to give back and support worthy projects that may otherwise not happen without some reduced costs or even volunteer time.
It’s all well and good placing a value on your time, expertise and equipment etc. but sometimes it is just as important to do something because it feels like the right thing to do. I’ve worked a lot with various charities over the years and also been a long-standing member of a local Round Table, helping to organise events that raise tens of thousands of pounds for good causes in the community. However, through Racing Snake I have an opportunity to dedicate a bit of my time to providing media support to organisations or people that may not have the budget to even consider a service that would really benefit their success.
I am delighted to announce that my first Community Impact case will be The Birkenhead Priory!
I use this image a lot so you may recognise it. It was taken during my original 3D scanning of Birkenhead Priory - using a Leica BLK360 Lidar scanner to supplement my Matterport infrared scanning, allowing me to capture the outside spaces, high walls and also to work in direct sunlight (almost impossible with infrared scanning).
Combing my love of heritage and my experience of delivering engaging educational resources, this is the perfect project to begin Racing Snake’s Community Impact.
The oldest standing building in Merseyside has a history dating back more than 800 years and boasts a beautifully preserved medieval site packed with history and intrigue. A few years ago, while I was at hi-impact, I was fortunate enough to create a 3d virtual tour of the entire site - no mean feat given the scale and complexity (huge amounts of outside space, tall and winding towers, high ceilings, gravestones with weathered text and carvings in the ancient masonry of the ruins.) The aim was always to create a highly interactive resource from this tour, something that schools would use to support their topics about local history. Resources have not been available to achieve this mission and I felt that I could step back into the project now as a volunteer and complete what I started.
Working alongside the wonderful staff and volunteers at the site, we have already begun to plot our next steps, which will include:
Audio descriptions of the key areas of interest
Video pop-ups around the site
Language options
A digital treasure hunt to engage children as they explore and learn
Bespoke branding and menus to help navigation
Having recently had one of my previous interactive experiences win an award, I am really hopeful that the finished resource of The Birkenhead Priory will be similarly well-received and we may enter it for some awards in the heritage industry once it’s up and running and been tried and tested in schools. You can check out the basic tour here, but do check back on my social media or on the Priory website for updates over the coming weeks as we complete the resource as it will change quite a bit!
If you have ideas for a project that you think could be worthy of consideration for future Community Impact, do let me know. I can’t promise to help each and every single one, but I will see what aligns with my values and skills and availability and see what I can do!
