Using online platforms for the project As well as meeting people in-person to run creative workshops, the project has also used different online systems to gather people’s stories and tell people about the project. With the change to the United Kingdom’s COVID rules in December 2021, we had to change how we ran the project. The postcard was used to collect stories, because people can do this from home and sent to the project team at no cost, using the Freepost envelope we included. We wanted to collect information to help plan the project. We decided to use a website to put information about the project and to help people to share their stories and thoughts using the internet. The online page shared information about the project, ethics, consent, and all the different ways of to take part in the project. This was not the best way for us to reach people as it is less creative than other ways we could have used, and lots of people cannot use the internet. It was worth doing because it gave many people the chance to take part, even though we could not easily meet in person. Raising Voices has used social media to share information and get feedback from people. The Hardship Commission’s Facebook page and Twitter account have been used with great success. Social media helped lots of people to find out about the project, reply and share their own experiences and opinions. It helped us to raise the voices of people who shared their stories.
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