Tackling Isolation With Immersive Community Events

Aim

Immersive videos of community events for young people who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend, with donations to Leeds Children's Hospital.

What Is INC360?

INC360 is a Community Interest Company tackling isolation in young people using immersive video, that can be enjoyed on Virtual Reality (VR) headsets.

We create content of local events and give young people who otherwise would not be able to access them the ability to enjoy them in a safe environment, whether that's due to ill health, social anxiety, disability or duties as a young carer for example. We want to give them a chance to enjoy what their peers are experiencing so they feel included in conversations, as well as giving them the confidence to get back into socialising.

Why Is This Important?

Based on our research, more than 10% of young people in Leeds are experiencing feelings of loneliness and isolation, that's around 90 pupils per school! By using technology they're familiar with the conversations will be easier to facilitate and interact with. VR/AR is becoming more well known and used more regularly in the fight against mental ill health; with its ability to replicate and document experiences and places, we've seen it being used for mindfulness, dementia treatment and a way to help with physiotherapy.

Who Are We?

After arranging local events, which she realised couldn't be enjoyed by a number of young people, Steph decided to combine her passion for helping others with the ever-growing tech industry. Qualified in Mental Health First Aid and an avid volunteer with local organisations, she set up INC360 in July 2019 to support young people feel socially included. Hear more about how INC360 started here.

Fast forward 2 months and Reema came onboard. Having had her own personal experiences of isolation and anxiety growing up, she understands first-hand the importance of supporting and engaging with children and young adults. Born a Southerner but adopted by wonderful Yorkshire, Reema has worked on outreach and engagement projects within the Leeds community. Hear more of her story here.

What Is The Plan?

Over the next few months we will be holding workshops for young people to try out the VR headsets and give us some real feedback on the content and usability of our kit - because you can always count on kids to give you honest feedback! These sessions will incorporate arts and crafts for a younger audience, and conversations to promote positive mental health for our older users. We want to develop open discussions around isolation and community with both them and their family members who wish to join. We want to provide some temporary relief, but more so build friendships and ensure that experiences - such as bonfire night, visits to a grotto or zoo, or even trips to the beach - are available to everyone.

What Does An INC360 Session Involve?

When INC360 visits you, you get to experience up to 30 minutes of 360 degree video footage of something exciting happening in your community. It could be seeing the night sky light up on Bonfire Night, enjoying a parade as it makes its way through the city centre, or even visiting Santa in a winter wonderland.

We then provide an hour of creative time where you can choose from a range of activities, followed by some tips to help combat loneliness and an open discussion about mental health for anyone who would like to join in. All our sessions will have two facilitators, as well as a mental health professional to ensure our service users' wellbeing is at the forefront of our sessions.

How Will Your Donation Help?

After nine months of research and planning we are ready to trial this service, but we need your help! Being a Community Interest Company means all the money raised will go straight into making this service live, and will be used to better our community.

Working with technology is expensive, and to create a sustainable and ethical organisation we need to purchase a number of items to run peer sessions and gain feedback. The great thing is, we only need a small amount of kit to get started, so once you help us reach our target we can continue this service for up to a year and still reach 300 children!

10% of all donations will be going to Leeds Children's Hospital to help during COVID-19. A little further down the page, we explain why we've decided to support them.

How Will We Spend The Donations?

What Does The Future Of INC360 Look Like?

Here's a timeline of what the next year looks like for INC360. This is what your donation will allow us to work towards...

What Do Some Of Our Supporters Think?

Oliver is our wonderful campaign ambassador. As a 10 year old, he is our target audience and has been instrumental in helping us with our research so far. Watch his video to hear about his experience of emigrating from South Africa to England and the things he likes doing outside of school.

Sophie is a Children's Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner & Clinical Supervisor, woah, that was a long title! Listen to her video explaining what that means and how she thinks our service will be useful to the community and those already seeking treatment.

Where Are We Active?

Whilst we want to provide this service to as many communities as possible, we will be starting locally in Leeds, working with youth forums and healthcare practitioners to understand how our service can be used throughout Yorkshire to help young people in hospital or those receiving residential treatment. From there we are looking to expand the locations our service is offered in, and the range of communities we can tailor our content to.

Who Are We Working With On The Campaign?

Leeds Cares

With recent changes to visitor access, many children have had to adapt to a new schedule where the people that make them feel the happiest aren't able to sit by their side like they used to. Having entertainment and toys available is essential in keeping children and young people's spirits high in such a hard time in their life. With your donation, you're not only supporting INC360 to build a service that can be enjoyed by these same children, you're also giving them an opportunity to develop, learn and play in a situation none of us thought we would find ourselves in.

You can see the items that are requested by the children's ward on the Leeds Cares website. With your money we will be providing them with a cheque so they can decide what is needed at this time, depending on PPE and the children they are caring for.

Natwest Back Her Business

Natwest has created an incredible initiative to help close the gender gap for entrepreneurs and help more women led startups, by match-funding up to £5000! This would be an amazing opportunity for us to gain extra funding to support business costs over the coming year, gain extra kit and pay volunteer expenses without dipping into our crowdfunding target. Plus, we will be donating 10% of our overall funding to Leeds Children's Hospital, so the more we raise, the more we can share with children impacted  by the COVID-19 crisis.

Shakti Mat

We would like to take the opportunity to thank Shakti Mat who generously donated one of their mats to help with our fundraising. All Shakti Mats are produced in a way that cares for the earth and the women who craft them, so please check out their website and show them some support.

Mindful Chef

A delicious donation has been generously provided by the lovely people at Mindful Chef. The prize includes two meals for two people, where you can choose from over 68 healthy recipes. They support the community through food, and for every meal they sell they donate a school meal to a child living in poverty. Head over to their site to read about the ways in which they also care for the environment. 

Collaborations

We are looking to talk with service-providers throughout Yorkshire to establish any future collaborations. We are particularly interested in connecting with mental health facilities and respite centres to expand our knowledge and learn about the current activities offered by them.

If you are a young person who would like to help us with research, or you know someone who is, we will be holding some free sessions in Leeds to test out our new kit and content in return for some feedback. Just drop us a message on [email protected] to register your interest.

Thank you for your support

This project successfully funded on 24th June 2020