The Shop For Change website includes an on-line directory and lots of information on organisations providing services and products available for the public and private sector. Organisations can simply sign onto this innovative scheme and become a member.

Each month the campaign champions a member organisation for their services, products and gives an insight into the company. For March 2012, Shop For Change selected Aidem Digital CIC as its ‘Organisation of the Month.’

This is an very important recognition for Aidem Digital CIC who is working hard as a social enterprise to deliver services that have a social impact, especially with is volunteering skills development model. Being a member of Shop For Change has introduced Aidem Digital to network and develop its services for other social enterprises established for a key purpose.

Commenting on the Shop for Change campaign, Indi Deol, Managing Director said: “Without the existence of campaigns like Shop for Change and organisations like iSE supporting and nurturing social businesses, vital networking and awareness opportunities that they generate would be lost and this sector would suffer hugely.”

Read more on this story: Aidem Digital Organisation of the Month
Official website: Shop For Change

Today, KTC’s customer portfolio covers the full spectrum of the food business from retail, through wholesale, major multiples and food manufacturers. Our KTC brand is familiar to housewives throughout the UK, as well as being known as a major supplier of private label products.

The rate of obesity, high cholesterol and heart disease is a major health issue for people in the UK originating from South Asia and with ‘Desi’ roots. KTC aims to assist with the promotion of healthy eating by producing oils particularly suitable for cooking in a more healthy way, such as KTC Rapeseed oil.

Aidem Digital’s on-line magazine DESIblitz.com features an article in its Food section related to healthy eating especially related to ‘Desi’ people (communities originating from South Asia). The article titled Foods for a Healthy Desi Heart has been championed by KTC on its official website in its media section – KTC media, endorsing the need for people from a South Asian culture to be mindful of healthy eating.

Medical findings promote the use of healthier fats and oils instead of using too much ghee and butter in Asian cooking. For example, having a high level of cholesterol is one of the most important risk factors for coronary heart disease and consuming foods that promote lower cholesterol is a must to tackle this problem.

The British Heart Foundation encourages the use of Rapeseed oil and Olive oil, which are ‘good fats’ (mono-unsaturated fats) versus ghee and butter (saturated fats), which are not good for the body, if consumed in regular and large quantities.

Therefore, it is important to take heed of the point on the DESIblitz article, which says: “Healthy Oils - use healthier oils for cooking such as Rapeseed oil to cook South Asian dishes. It has a very mild taste and you do not notice the difference when swapping it with butter or ghee.” As is could assist you with improving your health for a healthier heart along with other points mentioned in the article, especially if you are Desi.

All in all a healthy social message encouraged both the well-known manufacturer of such oils, KTC, and the British Asian lifestyle on-line magazine, DESIblitz.com.

Photography is known to be a therapeutic activity and aids Service Users to project their creativity and emotions via the photos they take. It is a fantastic way to engage Service Users in social activity as a group or individually. The camera gives so much opportunity to capture images that have a special meaning to Service Users.

Further to the success of the Photo Therapy course run by Aidem Digital for My Time Male Service Users, which resulted in the photos being user for the ‘Growing Men’ Calendar; this sponsorship is the next stage in encouraging Service Users to develop and enhance their photography skills.

Aidem Digital will be giving the Service User of the winning photo a free digital camera as a prize.

This competition is open to all My Time Service Users and the aim is to demonstrate the ability in every person to take a photo using a simple digital camera which could turn out to be the ideal candidate for the competition.

Indi from Aidem Digital CIC says:

“We are very pleased to be sponsoring this competition because it is an excellent way to allow My Time Service Users show what they can do by taking photos for a competition. It will give them a goal to aim for and encourage activity which is something very important for Mental Health sufferers.”

“It demonstrates how Aidem Digital CIC is keen to develop digital skills in the community. For people who for most of the time feel they are not capable or do not have the support to do so. Working closely with My Time we are making this happen,” he added.

The closing date for the competition is 5.00pm Tuesday 25th October 2011, after which the photos entered for the competition will be judged by Aidem Digital and My Time management. Creativity is high on the agenda for the photos and will be a key aspect for the judges.

The winning photo will then be forwarded for the Tridos Bank Social Vision competition which offers a cash prize of £500 for the winning photographer and a cash prize of £500 for the winning social enterprise.

BBC radio station Asian Network, the provider of programming output catering  for British Asians and people from South Asia, chose an article from Aidem Digital’s DESIblitz.com to debate on Nihal’s Show on Thursday 11th February 2011.

The article titled ‘Why British Asian Women Smoke’ was used to discuss the issues around British Asian women are smoking and why. This is an area of British Asian lifestyle that has seen numbers in British Asian women taking up smoking quite dramatically.

The article was written by DESIblitz.com writer Nicky Kullar and covered the change in how attitudes of British Asian women have changed towards smoking. It reflects on how independence,  financial security and choice all contribute to today’s British Asian woman being so different to those of the past, and why smoking is part of their lifestyle now.

The BBC Asian Network show attracted large numbers of listeners to phone-in and discuss the issue. With many callers giving their strong opinions raised by the article.

A lady caller,  pharmacist Shenu, suggested that there were three main reasons that women smoke which are loss of cultural values and discipline, peer pressure, and for the third reason she said: “I think parents cannot control their children as they use to in the old days.” She was very much concerned for the apathy towards statistics which are rising related to smoking.

Nihal talked about how the article describes changes in British Asian society such as sheesha lounges on the increase. Many callers texted giving their reasons for smoking and Asian men stating  how much of it is a turn-off  if Asian women smoke. One text picked up the point made by the article that India ranks third in the highest female smokers in the world.

A Punjabi lady, Manjit, called and stated her concern for her nieces smoking who are in their early 20′s. She told Nihal that it stems from peer group pressure and them going out night clubbing, and said “I as their aunt told them it doesn’t look good and doesn’t look very respectful.” And added: “I think it looks a bit cheap.”

The article describes how peer pressure is one key attribute towards why British Asian women smoke and the newer generations are taking up smoking as part of their social lifestyle.

The article describes how Ramanjeet is an investment banker uses smoking as a method of networking with people at work. In the programme, business woman and ex-smoker Rita Yahdev said: “Now I see it’s really not elegant, it’s dirty, it’s un-classy but a lot of my friends do still smoke.”

Interaction continued from callers as Nihal referred to the article and stated that Asian women smoke to express their freedom and choice. A male caller was very impressed by the show and about the points made. He said: “In Leicester children as young as 11 or 12 use their dinner money and get adults to buy them cigarettes.”

A young Brit-Asian girl smoker called Sara, spoke to Nihal and said she saw no difference to why women can’t smoke compared to men, especially in family. She said: “Obviously for an Asian women to smoke you have all the family pressure but at the end of the day I put my foot down and said if you smoke so will I.” Sara who is addicted to smoking has 10/15 cigarettes a day.

The show was rounded up with a huge number of texts and emails from listeners, including the support for the writer and DESIblitz for the article, which gave great subject matter for the Nihal Show on BBC Asian Network.

This shows how Aidem Digital has nurtured and encouraged one of its writers for DESIblitz.com to write about a controversial area related to British Asian society. Giving the writer a platform to develop confidence in their ability and writing skills, which in this case, has been noticed and adopted by BBC radio for a debate.

Read the full article here: http://www.desiblitz.com/content/why-british-asian-women-smoke

The media team from Aidem Digital worked closely with My Time and a number of service user men to conduct filmed interviews about their experiences of mental health problems, how they cope, and what My Time services mean for them.

The service users found engaging in the activity of being filmed and being featured in the film a very rewarding and unique experience.

The interviews were then edited into the short film to give viewers a real insight into what kinds of mental health problems, traumas and issues the men face and how My Time supports the men at an individual and service user forum level.

The film was first shown at a My Time public event in October 2010. The film was very well received and triggered a lot of positive discussion and feedback. To the point that it is going to be used as a training video by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust to raise awareness of how to manage service users who are gender specific and culturally diverse.

Michael Lilley, the founder of My Time said: “The Voices for Change film brought all the voices of the organisation together and provided a showcase of our values and work. It has been widely shown and received a good reaction. We are also using it as a training film on mental health awareness. It is an excellent tool.”

Amra Dautovic, the CEO of My Time was very pleased with the film and definitely feels it has dramatically assisted the My Time brand for what it stands for which is to publicise a service user led organisation which is making changes in people’s lives.

The film has elevated My Time into a new direction with more film projects to be produced, including, a women service users film and focus on individual service users who wish to share their individual experience of mental health care and problems.

A YouTube video channel has been especially created to allow everyone to see the fine work of My Time via video films which will be documenting their work on many future projects. You can see the channel via this URL link: http://www.youtube.com/user/MyTimeCIC.

This social enterprise project shows how My Time CIC worked closely with Aidem Digital CIC, to utilise our special skills and experience to develop a ground-breaking media experience both for the service users and My Time services.

The term ‘Desi’ refers to any person who’s roots come from any of the South Asian countries. And when applied to the word ‘blitz’ which as a verb often refers to getting past or through something with successive energy and vigour, gives an ideal name to a magazine providing  ‘News,’ ‘Gossip’ and ‘Gupshup’ electronically.

Launched as a social media venture in 2008, the magazine aims to deliver quality rich content to primarily British Asian and Desi communities world-wide. Core objectives include providing feature stories, informative articles, exclusive video interviews and exposure to social events and cultural activities.

Content provided on the magazine includes British Asian news, Bollywood talk, vibes in Music and Dance, SpotLight star interviews, trends in South Asian Fashion, Health and Beauty tips, interesting information on Food and nutrition, and a special section for unique free Downloads.

The ethos of the publication is to provide a distinct media platform for aspiring writers, photographers, videographers and  journalists, to gain valuable work experience for their careers or boost their self esteem and ability.

The publication team caters for people from any community or level of experience, and is ideal for those wishing to gain media publishing experience. Therefore, school leavers, graduates, volunteers and unemployed people on benefits, may well develop new media career opportunities by gaining the skills offered.

There are no specific skills required to join the publication apart from good basic writing and numeracy skills. As long as you possess the enthusiasm as a creative individual and have the drive to succeed as a quality orientated contributor, that is what matters most.

Every person producing content for DESIblitz.com is seen as a valuable contributor to the publication, whilst at the same time, he/she gains a wealth of experience not possible in larger and hierarchically managed organisations. The approach provided is more ‘hands-on’ and gives opportunity to contributors to develop skills in a more responsibility led environment.

The magazine’s editorial team acts as a catalyst and mentors members of the DESIblitz.com team to develop and improve online writing, photography and journalistic skills by providing guidance and reviews for their contributions. An iterative framework is provided for every contributor with strict style and content guidelines to ensure quality assurance is followed at the highest level.

Contributors see their efforts develop from an assignment, to a fully published article on the magazine, all with full credits. This includes digital content that makes up an article including photographs and video content.

The aim is encourage contributors, especially those suffering from low self esteem, in-experienced individuals and people with special interests; to join and improve their confidence in writing and other media skills.

In return the objective is to build a resilient, loyal and passionate virtual team that will work closely with the editorial members to produce good quality content for the magazine.

To date this publication project has developed from strength to strength with over twenty contributors participating from around the world to produce over 360 articles across the ten categories of the magazine, and this number continues to grow.

The popularity of the magazine and its brand has dramatically risen amongst its target audience, and it is fast being recognised an excellent advertising platform for local and global businesses, who are using ‘advertorials’ (articles publicising products or services) as a very effective way of  getting their marketing message across to the readership.

DESIblitz.com is one example of a community specific project backed by Aidem Digital, designed to meet the information and content needs for ethnic minority communities in the UK and beyond.

Visit the magazine: www.desiblitz.com

The brief for the project was to create a community orientated website and brand to help the aims of Cohesion Plus promote positive community relations in Kent, UK; bringing communities together through the arts, public education and sport.

An iterative approach was implemented to help the organisation engage as an active stakeholder in the development. This way Aidem Digital ensured that the final deployment of the Cohesion Plus website would meet the tailored needs of the organisation. Thus, making the changes that were imperative without affecting the project timescales.

With  its digital media experience, Aidem Digital employed a content management system as part of the implementation. This allows content changes to be made in an organised, efficient and consistent manner. Giving opportunity for multi-user updating with different levels of control and editorial policies.

Cohesion Plus wanted to reflect its promotion of equality irrespective of disability, gender, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, and sexual orientation and compliance with the Human Rights Act as part of its online activity. A good understanding of diverse communities allowed Aidem Digital to respond to this requirement easily.

One of the key areas for which Cohesion Plus generates content, is their organisation of culturally diverse arts events incorporating music, dance and visual arts primarily but not exclusively in Kent and its surrounding areas. This was assisted by Aidem Digital producing videos and integrating them with YouTube for the Cohesion Plus site. Hence, allowing the organisation to also promote activities via its YouTube channel.

The use of the arts, public education and sport allows Cohesion Plus to provide diversionary activities for young people and is a means of promoting good community relations and mutual understanding between different communities. Aidem Digital provided support to produce tightly aligned content for this cause.

With DESIblitz.com working as a Media Partner with Cohesion Plus, Aidem Digital made it possible for the project to take advantage of the expertise and resources available from the online magazine to work in partnership, to assist with marketing and promotional activities.

Coheshion Plus wants to ensure the public are kept informed of all events on a regular basis and it’s a challenge to deliver this at a time when funding is at a premium. So, to assist them support is provided from public funding partners that include Arts Council England, Kent County Council Arts Development Unit, Maidstone Borough Council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and Gravesham Borough Council.

Hence, placing the responsibility on Aidem Digital to ensure the organisation gets a viable return on investment with a cost effective implementation which includes hosting, regular updates to the content management system and on-going support.

Visit the site: www.cohesionplus.com

One such project is under-way is the collaboration with MyTime CIC in Birmingham. The aim of the project is to enable MyTime, who provide excellent services for Counselling and Mental Health support in Birmingham, to develop marketing and digital media frameworks to enhance the profile of their current and future services available to the public and other organisations.

This includes assistance with all kinds of media projects and collaborative working with MyTime and for its service user clients too. with both organisations being CIC’s it shows an excellent example of how the skills, abilities and diverse cultural capabilities of both companies can be fused to produce win/win outcomes by encouraging business development between them.

Director of Aidem Digital, Indi Deol, said, “We are very excited about the projects with MyTime and feel that we have an excellent fit in terms of digital media services to assist them with their excellent portfolio of counselling and mental health services.”

The relationship is fast under-way with some key projects in the pipeline which aim to open up opportunities to work together on a variety of digital media. These include design, print and video deliverables.

The weekend event takes places around September time every year and making sure the public are aware of the basic information about any event can sometimes be easily missed. So, Aidem Digital helped the organisers by creating a website that provided all the information needed by any member of the community wishing to attend, along with a design the reflected the ‘mela’ atmosphere.

Our design process engages the client throughout and this project was no different. The client was consulted and guided through the choice of colours, and screen designs initially created, through to the final choice.

The event has an advisory panel called the Mela Advisory Group which has been established since the inception of the Mela in 2003. The group is made up of officers from Maidstone Borough Council and representatives from local community organisations.

Local community organisations who are active members of the Mela Advisory Group include, Maidstone Finnish Community Group, Kent Indian Dance Academy, Maidstone Nepalese Community Group, Maidstone Polish Community Group, Maidstone Greek Community Group and Kent Police.

Organising an event like the Maidstone Mela requires a lot of input and discussion by a variety of local community organisations. This helps ensure a social event of this scale reflects a strong and balanced view of the different cultures residing in the locality of Maidstone, UK.

It is important for everyone in the group to provide their view and expertise of how best to represent their cultural activities at the Mela so that the overall objective of the Mela is met – to provide a fun and activity packed weekend for everyone to enjoy.

This was relayed to Aidem Digital as part of the brief for the project, and the translation was the development a visually rich experience of the mela on the site, in terms of content, video and photos. Especially, the choice of large wide-screen images on the homepage to give visitors that wow factor upon arrival.

One of the important goals of the Maidstone Mela project is to educate young people about the richness of the variety of cultures residing locally in Maidstone. Inspiring them to learn and take part in Mela activities is one sure way of introducing them to the multi-cultural aspects of the event and increasing their awareness about different cultures.

This goal was promoted on the site with examples, photos and videos of previous Maidstone melas and how the event addresses the need to increase cultural awareness. Sourcing and integrating YouTube videos into the site was part of the deliverable for this project.

It is important from an online publishing aspect that all images and videos are cleared for use. Especially, when using images of children. Therefore, such digital content for the site was scrutinised and authorised by the client before publishing.

With our extensive knowledge of ethnic events, festivals and culture, and in particular the mela format, it was easy for Aidem Digital to quickly turn round this project to meet the timescales for the client with a very pleasing and effective outcome.

Visit the site: www.maidstonemela.com