Bournemouth University

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Chatterbox event a burst of success

5 April 2012

The business card inside the balloons

BU students launch their Chatterbox campaign with an event in Bournemouth Square.

The winning group of BA (Hons) Advertising students successfully launched their Chatterbox event in Bournemouth Square on 4 April 2012.

The Chatterboxes, is a magazine designed and made by young people living in Bournemouth who have a disability. The event in Bournemouth Town Centre aimed to make more young people aware of the YMCA project and encourage them to volunteer.

Poppy Sargeaunt, Youth Disability Coordinator at the YMCA, said: “Today has gone really well, all of the young chatterboxes are really keen.

“They are all eager to tell people about the project. They have designed a fabulous magazine which showcases all the opportunities for young people with disabilities in the area. We wanted to let more people know about the chatterboxes, not just people with disabilities. It’s really important to change people’s perceptions of disabilities.”

The winning students had been instrumental in making the event a success, Poppy continued: “we have been working really hard with the Bournemouth University students who have been fabulous and really supportive; they have helped us market the event.”

The winning students decorated a large disco van in colourful balloons adorning Chatterbox banners, which members of the public were encouraged to pop. When the balloon burst a business card with how to contact the Chatterboxes on social media fell out. The balloons also contained coloured stickers which they stuck on a white Chatterbox board to help the organisers measure the impact of the event.

Dale Dolphin, a chatterbox age 17, complimented the student’s choice of marketing tools: “Bournemouth University helped us decide on ideas like the popping of balloons, the kids love the balloons.”

One of the winning BU students Delphine Dubreucq said at the event: “I am really pleased with today, the campaign was just for teenagers but we actually realised children and parents are having a look too. We are hoping that if the event goes well we will do it again in the summer, so we have enough money put aside. We are aiming to raise general awareness for the group, the event is colourful symbolising that they are a group which is very colourful and outgoing.”

Bournemouth citizen Nando Leotto, aged 34, admitted the event alerted him to the group: “I did not know what Chatterbox was before, but they explained to me that it is a group or magazine for disabled people.”

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