Impact mappers

Before you begin

• This activity will help everyone choose a local organisation to help through a Community Impact project.
• You’ll need information about between four and six different charities, projects, services, community centres or not-for-profit organisations based in your local area. Depending on where you live, there may be lots close by or you may have to look a bit further afield.
• Leaflets are a great source of information about the charities. Libraries and community noticeboards are good places to find out about organisations and pick up leaflets.
• Print (or write) labels with the names and addresses of the organisations. You’ll need several sets – one for each group.
• Get hold of some sticky dots or marker pens ideally red, yellow, and green.
• Print one of the ‘Traffic lights voting’ sheets for each organisation. Write the name of a different organisation on each sheet in the ‘voting for…’ box.

Map know-how

1. The person leading the activity should ask everyone to name any charities they know and briefly describe what they do.

2. Everyone should split into groups. There should be between four and six groups. The person leading the game should give each group a map, some sticky tack, some string and a set of organisation name and address labels.
3. To build map-reading confidence, the person leading the activity should ask everyone to find their meeting place or a well-known location on their printed maps.
4. Everyone should read the address labels and find the organisations on the map. They should use a dot of sticky tack to mark the location and then stick a piece of string to the sticky tack. They should stick the address label to the other end of the piece of string. The labels should all be on the edge of the map, so they don’t cover up any of the map.
5. The person leading the activity should give each group one organisation. They should give the groups the leaflets and information for their organisation, and some pencils and paper.

6. Everyone should use the information to find out what their organisation does, who they help and how they impact on the community. Everyone should make notes so they remember what they found out and tell the other groups.
7. Everyone should gather together and take it in turns to talk about what they found out about the organisations. Each group should try to promote their organisation – why should everyone support it?

Make an impact

1. The person leading the activity should explain that now everyone knows about the different organisations, they should choose one to support with their community impact project.
2. The person leading the activity should stick the ‘Traffic light voting’ sheets to the wall or a table.
3. The person leading the activity should give everyone a green, yellow, and red sticky dot (or a green,red, and yellow pen – which people could share and take it in turn to use).
4. Everyone should take it in turns to use their dots to vote for an organisation. They should stick the green dot on the organisation they’d most like to support, the yellow dot on their second choice, and the red for the option they’d least like to help. No one can stick both their green and their yellow dots to the same organisation – their first and second choices must be different.

5. Together, everyone should count up the green and yellow votes. The organisation with the highest combined number of green and yellow votes is the one that everyone has chosen to support.

6. The person leading the activity should then remind everyone what the winning organisation is and what they do.
7. Everyone should split into pairs or small groups and think about they could help the organisation everyone chose. Would fundraising or donating items help? Could they run an event? Could they volunteer on a project? Or run activities for people the organisation supports?
8. Everyone should gather back together to share their ideas. Everyone should look out for any common themes or types of projects?