We created our poster to help make it a bit easier for neighbours to reach out to one another, to ask for and offer help, and to share skills and resources- like digital knowhow!
We know that some folks in Norwich have been more isolated during the pandemic because they aren’t online, or don’t have digital skills.
We wanted to create a really simple way for neighbours who have digital resources and skills, to share them.
The thing is, we reckon that most people don’t realise that they HAVE skills and resources to share, because those things are so routine and normal for a lot of us.
When we say ‘digital resources’, we’re talking about things like having unlimited broadband at home, or a box of old family smartphones that’s aren’t being used, or perhaps having a portable wifi device that someone could borrow.
By ‘skills’, we mean things like knowing how to download an app, or knowing to how find, download and listen to music, or a podcast, or make a video call.
We don’t mean that you work in IT or that you code websites or that you know how to build your own computer- although if you do and you want to share these skills with your neighbours, that’s amazing! In fact you probably already are doing.
One really important thing we want to say though, is that our poster isn’t JUST for sharing digital skills.
You can use it for anything you want- because everyone in a neighbourhood has something that other people want or need. That’s kind of the point of communities, we think.
Again, you might not realise that what you have is a skill- because it’s so normal and easy for you, you think everyone knows how to do it. (Spoiler- they don’t!)
Some of us are really good at being friendly and starting up conversations and friendships. Some of us are really good at listening to other people who are struggling.
The pandemic has been a hard year for all of us and a lot of us are feeling more lonely and isolated than usual. A friendly face and a chat at the doorstep or over the fence can be exactly what a neighbour needs that day.
Some of us really love growing vegetables, or baking, and could share advice and encouragement (or cake!).
When it comes to sharing with our neighbours, we know that lots of us would love to but don’t realise we have something that someone else needs.
Maybe you’ve got DIY or gardening tools that don’t get used very often that a neighbour could borrow from time to time.
Maybe you made too much jam last year and and you need to make room in the cupboards for this year’s batch?
Perhaps you have loads of smart work clothes that you don’t wear any more now that working from home is the norm, or you have a bunch of children’s books or toys that the kids have got tired of- perhaps a neighbour has some you could swap?
The point of the poster isn’t to tell anyone what to do. We know you are already doing this stuff and we know neighbours have been looking out for each other since the invention of neighbours.
We also know that sometimes it can be a bit awkward to reach out to our neighbours for the first time, and some of us might not feel confident to just knock on someone’s door and say ‘hey, do you want some jam?’ or ‘I can show you how to use email, if you want’. We hope that the poster can help with that. You can download the poster by clicking on the button.
Click the button to download our free poster!
Fine City Neighbours 