On Thursday 28 September, Multistory collaborated with Sandwell Council, The Wildlife Trust, New Square West Bromwich and a wonderful group of volunteers on the planting of a wildflower meadow.
To promote the event, a poster was designed by Multistory and distributed both digitally and physically. It was handed out to local business owners, organisations and educational institutions in the town such as The Job Centre, Let’s Chat (in the bus station), Hope Place, Sandwell College and others. Digitally the poster was shared with Multistory’s network and promoted via their channels; including West Bromwich BID, Sandwell Herald and the Sandwell Express and Star wrote articles about the upcoming event. Many of the organisations Multistory have previously worked with (e.g. Black Country Touring and Creative Black Country) shared the event with their contacts too. Multistory promoted the event via their website social media channels, as well as emailing community groups we have worked with in the past. As the meadow planting was an open call out, the poster was distributed as widely as possible to engage a range of people.
From this, a varied group of participants took part in the event including a disabled community art group, a local children’s nursery, a member of Sandwell Visually Impaired and members of the general public. The event was also attended by a Wednesbury councillor and those who helped promote the event- such as West Bromwich BID and New Square.
In total, 6 groups participated (Tiny Tots Academy, Foundation Learning students from Sandwell College, a group from the Smethwick Bangladesh Islamic Centre, employees from West Bromwich Building Society, a member of Sandwell Visually Impaired and a group from Creative Arts Project). The total amount of individuals across the whole day was 40 people.
Due to how the event was promoted, we managed to engage people located in West Bromwich, as well as those from other Sandwell towns, and also worked with a diverse range of groups and individuals (i.e. a faith group, students with additional needs/support, pre-school children and someone from a care home with their support worker).
The day consisted of two, 2-hour time slots (morning and afternoon) in which groups attended at a time convenient for them. Although participants did not have to stay for the whole 2 hours of each time slot, many chose to do so meaning most of the planting was completed by the volunteers, with The Wildlife Trust only having a small area of land left to finish at the end of the day. From collected feedback, people found the event very good, would recommend Multistory events to others and found it an enjoyable exercise.
In May 2024, Multistory will contact those who took part in the planting for a celebration event at the site which will include the cutting of the meadow and various activities. People were very enthusiastic and supportive of the planting event and also its long-term impact for West Bromwich and the environment.
