In 2019, Words of Colour was commissioned by the University of Roehampton’s Dean of Students, Professor Marilyn Holness, to develop a multi-media knowledge ehub containing practical solutions to overcome the BAME attainment gap between Black African and Caribbean, Black British and White students, and highlighting the experience of Muslim women students.
We built an eToolkit and disseminated over two years’ worth of findings, project activities, films, essays, events and lectures in accessible digital formats. Alongside providing tailored consultancy and visioning sessions to lecturers and Professor Holness, we did a mapping exercise and revisioned the content to ensure the user journal was impactful.
Words of Colour transformed the findings of our two year (Re-Imagining Attainment for All) RAFA2 project – from words on the page to an awesome etoolkit and website which is inspirational in the way it tells our story.
Commissioning Words of Colour was one of the best decisions I’ve made regarding disseminating our work. Mike Joda and Joy Francis understood the vision and helped me to share it. They didn’t just build an eToolkit, but produced multi-media products, provided tailored consultancy and rebranded our materials. Their supportive and insightful advice helped me to shape my ideas and envision them that allowed issues of inequalities to be presented in accessible and appealing ways.
Working with Joy was a masterclass in harnessing creativity. She is a talented, consummate professional, who effectively focuses on the big picture, while paying attention to the detail, ensuring the project met its objectives on time and on budget.
Words of Colour provided an amazing service above and beyond what I could have wished for. The outcome speaks for itself.
As well as rebranding the project, we digitised the information, produced infographics, curated a podcast series with academics and students to humanise the information, produced short films and collaborated with the students over the digital presentation of their content to inspire wider ownership.
At the point of launch, we were faced with the Covid pandemic. Yet despite a cancelled launch and minimal publicity, the portal attracted 8,800 views and nearly 1,500 visitors in 2020.
RAFA2 is a partnership with Carshalton College and Queen Mary University of London, and funded by the Office for Students