As Southend’s children return to school or head off to nursery after a sunny summer holiday full of fantastic family fun, we are taking a moment to reflect on our own community engagement work.

Being an active body in the community, and engaging with families at every possible opportunity, spreading the word of the range of A Better Start Southend (ABSS) projects and activities is the best way to improve the lives of children within the areas we operate in. We have reached out throughout this summer with our lively events calendar, with activities designed to encourage participation as well as learning.

Working with our delivery partners, as well as other Southend-based organisations, we have held over 20 engagement activities across the ABSS wards for families with children under 4 in A Better Start Southend areas over the course of the summer.

But of course, Engagement is not just for the summer. A large part of our engagement work has been our parent-led Engagement Fund events, organised by Southend parents and run through our Partners Southend Association of Voluntary Services (SAVS). Run for parents in specific wards, these events aimed at reaching out to the community have included ones such as the ‘Easter Eggstravaganza’ with Southchurch Hall Inspirational Parkers at a local green space in Southend for a fantastic day where we were able to meet and introduce a host of new families to the ABSS programme.

Community engagement is also about overcoming different barriers to participation and this is something we are conscious of here at A Better Start Southend. Engagement Fund activities, and all our engagement activities will consider accessibility from a language, cultural and social perspective, to help ensure activities are as open to all as physically possible.

But we couldn’t talk about community engagement without mentioning ‘Pip’, our friendly mascot. Pip was welcomed to the team at the end of last year after a year-long creative process to bring the idea of an ABSS mascot to life. With the design created from the collective minds of over 70 of Southend’s children, every step of the way, Pip was co-produced with Southend residents. We had over 1,000 people voting for its unique, winning design from a final shortlist of four options, and we received hundreds of votes for its name…Pip!

As an organisation, we felt it was very important to have the mascot truly co-produced with children and the community, to not only ensure Pip is fun, unique and child-friendly for all who meet it, but also to help integrate ABSS further into the local community. A Mascot Group, made up of Parent Champions, ABSS staff and SAVS staff guided the mascot through the co-produced path to become a real life being

Pip has jigged, cuddled and bounced his way through our summer activities, making appearances at multiple family fun days and wellbeing events. The cuddly creature even entertained pitch-side at Roots Hall Stadium with the locally renowned Sammy the Shrimp; Southend United Football Club’s mascot! Pip’s unique and fascinating appearance often piques children’s interest immediately, even when surrounded by other colourful play-time activities, and Pip has begun to get fans that recognise the mascot! Even if some little ones initially feel a little shy or overwhelmed by its unusual look, they usually overcome these feelings with the help of Pip’s warm, jovial nature, as well as the dedicated assistant that helps Pip at events. The costume is interactive too, with textured pieces children can move around, touch and play with, transforming Pip into a sensory experience!

We are a test and learn programme, and we have had valuable learning taken from the mascot process which we will use to inform future marketing and community engagement activities. It reinforced the importance of working directly with parents, as engagement activities work far more effectively when conducted in this way. Parent involvement from the outset helps to address important aspects that may not have been considered without their input. Before Pip, we knew children were creative, but we were blown away by their designs, and Pip would not have been as successful as a mascot if we hadn’t included Southend’s children in the design process.

Whittling down the designs to the final four was challenging however, as we had over 100 designs to choose from. Excellent planning, thought and creativity from everyone throughout the process was invaluable, and the need to be ‘off the cuff’ when required was a skill the Mascot Group practised regularly.

Reflecting on the mascot creation process, members of the Mascot Group, Parent Champions Julia and Michelle said the main lessons learned were: “Letting go of control of the outcome and knowing that good planning and keeping co-production at the centre of designing a mascot will yield great results. Taking the time to conduct workshops and test mascot designs with the public worked out to be such a valuable process. A Better Start Southend was mentioned countless times in a fun and unthreatening way; this would have planted the seed in many people’s minds.”

Above all, Julia and Michelle advised that being ready for the time when the character you create begins to feel like an identity all of its own is important, as you will better appreciate the memories you have made for children who interact with it.