 Project Name: The Poetry Challenge Social Inventor: Nicholas Albery Brief Background: Nicholas Albery was a social inventor and visionary: he founded the Institute for Social Inventions, of which the Global Ideas Bank is the online arm. He was a great lover of poetry and of new ideas. The Original Idea: To run an event in which members of the public are sponsored to learn poems by heart and then recite them. The idea was to encourage people's love of poetry and also, where needed, their self-confidence in an event in which money was raised for a chosen charity. In this way, the idea helps improve literacy (or understanding of literature), their confidence and the charity in question. Development: From the initial idea in the early 1990s, Nicholas began to run an annual event in London venues, inviting friends, family and gradually the net began to widen. Members of the public became aware of the project from coverage in the press (following some well-targeted and entertaining press releases), and word began to spread. Nicholas realised quite early on that the idea was particularly suited to schools, for whom the combination of encouraging a love of literature and a fundraising event should prove perfect. So he started mailing schools with information about how they could go about organising an event, with template certificates, sponsorship forms and posters. Alongside this work, Nicholas had put together an anthology of poetry perfect for learning by heart: Poem for the Day. He managed to secure a publishing deal, and the anthology is now one of the most popular anthologies ever in the UK, with countless schools and homes owning a copy. Since then, the project has gone from strength to strength, with hundreds of schools now running poetry challenge events every year. Events have taken place in Toronto, Ghana, New York, Ireland and all across the UK. Since Nicholas' untimely death in 2001, the project is now under the aegis of the Foundation that bears his name. And, in 2003, a new anthology, Poem for the Day Two was published to raise more funds for the charity's work. Evaluation: the original objectives were reached and then exceeded, and then exceeded again. While the scope of the original London event (originally called the Poetry Marathon) has changed little in the decade of its existence, the success of the project with schools and via the two anthologies has been incredible. From that original idea, the project now continues its work primarily via its website, which has downloadable forms and information. What the evolution of the project also shows is the importance of being flexible with your original vision, and being willing to extend it or reduce the aspects of it which are not working. The original idea for an event metamorphosed into hundreds of events around the country, two fundraising anthologies and a massive number of people enjoying poetry who might otherwise have never done so. Tips for others: - be flexible with the original vision - remember the importance of publicity - fundraise first (in this case with the project!) - energy and enthusiasm go a long way - have a passion for your project (or a project from your passion) |
