Roll-out of SOLE in East Lothian
Preparations are well underway to begin the next phase of our SOLE project (Supporting Our Local Economy) by engaging directly with communities across East Lothian. At the end of 2021 we secured UK Community Renewal Funding and since then we’ve been working quietly in the background getting ready with new branding, a full marketing plan and an active recruitment campaign to help build out the project team we need to make this project happen.
Learning from the original pilot scheme
The initial stage of the programme was a pilot of the platform concept in Dunbar last year, which was carried out as a collaboration between East Lothian Council, the Scottish Tech Army and a Steering Group made up of representatives of the local community including the Dunbar Trades Association and the Community Council. The pilot project was carried out by volunteers from the community and the Scottish Tech Army, and this proved to be one of the biggest challenges. The pilot was tough, both for the Dunbar Steering Group and for the Scottish Tech Army, but it has been incredibly useful – we took all the feedback and experience of the pilot project and put it to good use. By incorporating the feedback that was gained, the web platform and especially the mobile app have been transformed – the whole experience is much more appealing, and the system is much easier to use. It is deliberately a much more mobile-first approach and is designed to act as a useful resource in its own right and as a tool to draw citizens and visitors alike into and around the towns in the county.
Building demand first rather than supply
The pilot project focussed initially on encouraging businesses and community groups to use the platform to reach and attract citizens but based again on feedback from the pilot, the county-wide roll-out project will focus initially on attracting people in the community to the platform by offering them a rich array of content and activities that are curated and collated on the platform.
One of the most important lessons from the pilot was that the level of engagement and proactive marketing that is required is beyond what can realistically be achieved by volunteers and with no marketing budget. This was the driving force behind the decision to apply for funding – having been successful in bringing this new money into the county, we believe that this will make a critical difference to the ability to roll-out the platform effectively at scale and in a timely manner.
As we mentioned last time, the funding provides for recruitment of a project team, including marketing expertise, community engagement and customer success teams and project management resource to oversee the project as a whole. We are currently actively looking for a Digital Marketing Executive, additional customer success team members and Community Engagement specialists who are familiar and known in the communities we’ll be talking to. Check out the roles here.
This rollout will include a very proactive and visible marketing and advertising campaign, both online and in the community with news about SOLE, special offers, competitions and spotlights on local groups, events and businesses. We have ring-fenced funding for retailer promotions, to help businesses coming onto the platform to encourage customers to their doors with special offers and prizes.
We will continue to keep you posted on our progress and we’ll let you know when the platform and mobile app go live to you can discover East Lothian for yourselves!
The UK Community Renewal Fund is a UK Government programme for 2021/22. This aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK to pilot programmes and new approaches to prepare for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It invests in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-community-renewal-fund-prospectus
