Bradford Doorstepping
Campaign Objectives
Ethnic minorities are amongst the hardest to reach groups in terms of recycling. Bradford Council wished to target a number of their districts minority communities to talk to residents about recycling opportunities in their areas, and to increase participation in the recycling schemes.
Challenges
- High ethnic population
- Overcoming language barriers
- Communicating the recycling message in one of Bradford's most deprived areas
Delivery
The campaign targeted approximately 30,000 households over a two-month period. The team were from the local area, and included speakers of Punjabi and Urdu.
It included a specific local campaign called Go Girlington! – a sustainable community clean-up aimed at permanently improving one of Bradford’s most deprived areas. This involved local community groups, schools, mosques, churches and businesses in looking at local environmental problems from every angle and coordinating solutions.
Outcomes
- Discovery of a community of Eastern European immigrants, previously unknown to the council. A number of Czech and Slovak translators were recruited to ensure the project was fully inclusive
- Greater understanding of recycling behaviour among minority communities
- Substantial increase in the number of residents participating in the kerbside scheme
- In the period measured between April and December 2005, kerbside recycling tonnage increased by 1,700 tonnes district-wide
The Go Girlington campaign was a huge success and showed that residents did care about their neighbourhood and were willing to participate in recycling if they were given the right guidance. The key to engaging local residents was definitely the face to face contact made by the doorstepping team, backed up with targeted materials.
"Enventure were asked to supply a team of doorsteppers who were representative of the area they would be working in and to project manage the campaign. This was done both effectively and efficiently and they became key partners in the campaign, ensuring that it exceeded expectations and achieved the project objectives."
Clare Bussingham Senoir Marketing Officer