Media students complete Icebreaker Challenge

As part of their Interactive media unit, the students learned how charities use the internet to raise money and created digital assets of their own to promote a fundraising campaign, and hopefully go viral. Each group created a fundraising team with its own distinct brand, putting what they learned about online marketing into practice in a bid to be the group that raised the most money.

Sadly, the impact of COVID-19 meant the brief they were working to changed repeatedly, forcing the students to adapt as planned partnerships and events were cancelled and the college closed for lockdown. With everyone at home and unable to campaign as a group, media lecturer Andy Darley set them a challenge: film short video clips that could be edited together into one cohesive Icebreaker water fight.

The video can be seen on YouTube and the three teams, Empower, Furlough Foundation and Balls & Baskets are hoping to add to the funds already raised by asking people to scan the QR codes and donate through their respective JustGiving pages.

Andy said: “Homelessness is a cause that many students care deeply about, and right from the start they were enthusiastic about a project that would allow them to make a real difference. We were aware that COVID could disrupt our plans, and so it proved – the students did really well to adapt and make a success of the project through its twists and turns.”

The Crisis Icebreaker aims to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless in winter through fun activities involving cold water. Before the pandemic. CRC’s media students are among many fundraisers who found new ways of keeping the spirit of the event alive in a changed world.

To support their cause, pause the Icebreaker video at any point and scan that student’s QR code to go to their team’s page on JustGiving.