The Challenge
Local development companies (LDCs) are based in every county in Ireland. Not-for-profit organisations, they deliver services focused on social inclusion, wellbeing, employment, training, enterprise grants, and environmental support. They also support Ukrainian refugees, including through housing supports, wellbeing programmes, and integration initiatives.
By January 2023, almost 70,000 Ukrainian people had arrived in Ireland, fleeing the war in their home country and seeking support under the Temporary Protection Programme. Ukrainians who had arrived to the likes of CityWest in Dublin were being separated and moved to unfamiliar communities nationwide, often losing the personal connections they had forged in their first weeks and months here. Development officers in LDCs reported the Ukrainians with whom they were working were feeling isolated and struggling to integrate. Wellbeing and mental health were low.
Coupled with this, tensions around housing and integration were rising in local communities. Counties like Cavan and Kerry were becoming hotbeds for arguments about the use of hotels and disused properties for housing refugees.
In February 2023, two LDCs – Empower in Fingal and Cavan County LDC – had the idea of establishing a choir made up of Ukrainians living across Ireland: Ireland’s National Ukrainian Choir. Their vision was to improve wellbeing and integration for the participants, while demonstrating to Irish policymakers – and residents in communities with a high influx of refugees – the positive impact Ukrainians could make to the country.
Through the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN), LDCs nationwide invited Ukrainians in their local communities to join the choir as a wellbeing initiative and an opportunity for socialising.
In spring 2023, having previously worked with Empower, Alice was contracted to provide strategic communications support to develop a campaign to launch the National Ukrainian Choir. The objectives of this campaign were to:
- Demonstrate to the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD) – the main funder of the local development sector – the value of investing in these types of cultural initiatives; and highlight the impact such projects have on social inclusion and integration, thereby making the case for the Department to invest in similar projects in the future.
- Increase integration, sense of belonging and wellbeing amongst Ukrainians throughout Ireland.
- Demonstrate – to political representatives and policymakers – the importance of arts and culture initiatives in promoting integration and wellbeing.
- Showcase the positive impact of Ukrainian refugees amongst local communities – by securing a minimum of three pieces of national media coverage in outlets consumed by politicians and policymakers, as well as at least one positive piece of local media coverage in each of six target counties.
What Alice Did
As part of our strategic support and campaign planning, Alice suggested bringing a high-profile ambassador on board to attract attention for the choir. Cavan County LDC had an existing connection with renowned singer Phil Coulter, so they approached him to seek permission for the choir to record and perform his well-known song, ‘Steal Away’. The song is about a couple escaping Northern Ireland’s Troubles, and has many parallels with the experiences of Ukrainians fleeing the present-day war. Phil gave permission for his song to be used, and also agreed to perform with the choir himself. Choir Director Yulia Boyko – a Ukrainian who has lived in Ireland for 20 years and now runs a music school in Cavan – translated a section of his song into Ukrainian, so the performance could be bilingual.
All the building blocks for a successful project were in place, but the organising groups had no plan around how best to launch the choir. This is where Alice came in. We devised a strategy centred around a high-profile invite-only performance, encompassing extensive media relations and stakeholder engagement.
Because politicians and policymakers were key audiences – and to foster a sense of occasion for the choir-members and their families – we recommended staging the launch in a Dublin city-centre venue. We sourced the Pepper Canister Church because it reflected the solemn focus of this campaign, but also has a reputation for hosting atmospheric gigs, a city centre location, and a great backdrop for capturing newsworthy photographs. Tuesday, 22nd August 2023, was chosen as the launch date.
Alice provided all event management services needed for this launch, as well as delivering a comprehensive media relations campaign.
Results
The key outcome from this project was that the Government committed funding for LDCs to support not only the continuation of Ireland’s National Ukrainian Choir, but also the development of additional local choirs focused on integrating minority groups. Within a year of this launch event, two new choirs had been established.
In the aftermath of the event, Alice developed and disseminated two evaluation surveys – for choir-members and participating LDCs – to assess the impact of this project overall. 28 of the 39 choir participants completed the survey. As a result of this project:
- 92% said they feel valued as a member of society in Ireland.
- 90% reported feeling a greater sense of belonging in Ireland.
- 82% said they developed personal and social connections.
- 75% reported improved mental health.
- 71% reported an increase in how integrated they feel.
LDCs, meanwhile, scored the project, on average, 8.8 out of 10 for how it increased understanding across the local development sector of the power of arts and culture to promote integration. They scored 8.4 out of 10 for its impact on integration; and 8.1 out of 10 for how it strengthened links between Ukrainians and Irish people within their local communities.
Other results included:
- Media reach of 5.9 million from 17 pieces of national coverage and 55 pieces of local coverage, significantly surpassing KPIs. Coverage achieved in all target counties. Duration of coverage: August to September 2023.
- The launch was attended by five Oireachtas members, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, and the Principal Officer for Social Inclusion and Communities in DRCD.
- The choir’s performance on YouTube has attracted over 73,000 views, and almost 9,000 listens on Spotify.
Subsequently, Alice worked with Empower, the ILDN, and Ireland’s National Ukrainian Choir to launch a documentary about the choir in autumn 2024, which has already amassed over 3,000 views on YouTube. The documentary followed the journey of the choir, from the first rehearsals to the debut performance, choir members also shared the positive and uplifting impact the initiative had on them.