Tackling loneliness one ‘Hi!’ at a time in Elephant and Castle

How to keep people connected in an area of London being transformed by change? Say ‘hello’ to Elephant Says Hi!

Elephant Says Hi! is an outreach programme that encourages local people to connect with each other through the ‘places and spaces’ in Elephant and Castle.

One of the main aims of the initiative is to help tackle isolation in the city, by getting people to welcome, support and embrace new and existing members of the local community in SE1.

Elephant Says Hi! stemmed from the Loneliness Lab sprint held in October 2018. The Loneliness Lab was co-founded by developer Lendlease and sustainable development champion Collectively and supported by numerous groups including the British Red Cross and Southwark Council.

Co-founders Liza Makarov and Jenny Sawyer met on the project and formed the idea of ESH!. They have been working to deliver the ambition of ‘creating the most welcoming place in London’ ever since. The initial seed funding to get this initiative off the ground was provided by Lendlease (and ESH! is also looking to make applications for funding from other sources).

Liza said she and Jenny were “interested in the social issues and what we can do about it,” She added: “We also understood that it was really interesting that most of the people that we talked to would go elsewhere in London to do certain things, rather than necessarily stay within the area. Then we looked at how can we then create more of a sense of belonging to the neighbourhood.”

“We really enjoyed working with LCC’s students: they gave creative input, challenged us, and gave real thought to the purpose of the project” – innovation consultant Liza Makarov

London College of Communication came onboard as a partner, with its students helping with the website design and branding for Elephant Says Hi! Liza said the the project genuinely aspired to engage with the local community, not getting people to acknowledge what is going on in their neighbourhood, but to really get them meeting new people and supporting local businesses and organisations.

In September 2019, Elephant Says Hi! threw a street party which brought around 200 local residents together, getting them to interact whilst eating, drinking, mingling and enjoying the party atmosphere. The event was hailed as a big success, and similar ones are planned to maintain the project’s momentum.

Liza Makarov said: “Through the campaign, we are getting more visibility through our website, brand identity and our members. I think its sort of small scale; at the moment, it’s more about raising awareness and making sure people know what we’re doing.’’

• 

• 

Liza believes Elephant Says Hi! is an important initiative for the local Elephant and Castle area and community. The pace of change is fast, and how neighbourhoods evolve, respect their past, and link to their surrounding areas is an ongoing topic in many London locations.

LCC is involved in that conversation, and was keen to support this project with creative input from its staff and students. Karol Tylke and Justas Benaravičius, both studying BA Information and Interface Design, became embedded into the Elephant Says Hi! team.

Karol said: ‘’I was responsible for creating branding identity of the project, and Justas handled user interface and experience design of the website. The logo I created is a combination of a map pin and an elephant silhouette, while the identity consists of several vibrant colours and dynamic patterns. I also created brand guidelines and a couple of layouts for some printed materials like leaflets and postcards’’.

The whole project took the students around four months to complete. It wasn’t without its stressful moments, but both agreed that they thoroughly enjoyed it. Justas said: “We developed an interactive map using Google API, which we coded on the Wix platform. It was a fun and demanding project.”

Liza Makarov said: “We really enjoyed working with LCC’s students: they gave creative input, challenged us, and gave real thought to the purpose of the project. Through their enthusiasm and energy, they have helped us shape the project both from a visual and conceptual perspective.

“We have had great feedback on the simple, friendly and impactful branding and web design that we hope will help us create great engagement with Elephant Says Hi! and take the project further.”

Images courtesy of Elephant Says Hi!