Togther we are everything
No Man is an Island... John Donne
Three core values guide McClelland & Chase Communications Bureau;
Acknowledging our Past
Recognising our present
Preparing for the future
These values also remind McClelland & Chase Communications Bureau that it is built upon and grows with the support of the communities that it represents.
To that end, a crucial part of our being is to give back to those communities through Transformational Social Projects that improve inclusion and access in our world.
I... Positive veteran representation.
New ways of involvement
A little over a decade ago, I wrote a series of essays on various topics around veteran perception, including The Rambo Syndrome -Manifestations of PTSD/Combat Stress, Proposals for Successful Decompression and Post-Service Military Transition and Combat-Related PTSD and its Effects upon the Family. These papers sought to address issues I had experienced and witnessed during my recovery journey as a Wounded in Service Veteran and, in turn, helped influence how various agencies in the United Kingdom and overseas worked with Veterans. These included the NHS, US Veterans Agencies, UN and various NGOs. My work culminated in being included in the Veterans Transition Review led by Lord Ashcroft in 2014.
This experience inspired a self-funded project, the first independent Transformational Social Project specifically designed to promote positive veteran representation through veteran self-representation in words and images, known as I... in 2015, using our now merged Forester Green photographic services label, and mentored by photographer Hugh Hamilton.
What followed was six series of posters featuring HM Veterans from across the globe sharing their positive post-service experiences. Featuring Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes and Robert Lawrence, Military Cross, participants supplied a favoured photograph and a few words to tell their story and challenge contemporary perceptions and definitions of what it meant to be a veteran. I... was launched in 2015 and would feature firefighters, teachers, artists, a Christmas Jumper and some bloke covered in mud.
As an extension of the project, an Art exhibition, which attracted over one hundred and fifty visitors in five days, was held at Kelham Hall in 2016 and featured the work of veterans, both involved in I... and outside the project. The project was supported by numerous outside bodies and finished in October 2018 after featuring over one hundred veterans.
Links of Interest:
'I...' Project Website can be found here
Art Exhibition Stills.
Project Ten - Active User Accessibility
Transforming Accessibility
Project Ten is a Transformational Social Project specifically designed to give Active Users, their families and carers confidence in identifying and accessing public spaces. It is hoped that by adopting the Active User series of logos, accessibility can be achieved across a range of public spaces, including schools, commercial premises, shopping precincts, as well as recreational and pedestrianised areas, through the use of the easily identifiable Active User logo that indicates accessible public spaces and buildings, be they civic or privately owned.
The Active User logo colour palettes mimic the familiar white/blue colour already associated with Disability awareness and are available in three designs to aid Active Users, their families and carers with visual recognition of locations that can be accessed with ease.
Given the complexities that can arise with dexterity and individual safety considerations for Active Users, an App may not always be the most appropriate medium for identifying such locations. To that end, I am promoting the use of the easily recognisable physical Active User logos as the most accessible form of identification for Active Users, their families and carers.
The Active User logo would not only identify accessible locations but also give Active Users, their families and carers confidence in maintaining independence and dignity in places such as schools, commercial premises, shopping precincts, recreational and pedestrianised areas.
The impetus for Project Ten has been the barriers, often unintentional, that I have experienced as a new wheelchair Active User. This situation has arisen from an injury sustained during my RAF service.