Join In
Volunteering in local sport has the power to create healthier, happier people and stronger communities.
Join In:
Supported the sports clubs and groups who need volunteers most
Promoted brilliant opportunities for people to volunteer in their local communities and at flagship sporting events
Recognised the huge social value created by volunteers through our research and campaigns.
As Head of Design and Content, I worked with the digital, PR, commercial and sport teams to create first-class campaigns, design, editorial and imagery for all channels.
Campaigns were led by patron Eddie Izzard and included 'I Am Team GB' with The National Lottery and ITV, the #BigThankYou at BBC Sports Personality of the Year and Join In's own 'Run It'.
Videos
We created a range of videos across the four years of Join In, targeted at audiences like potential volunteers, sports clubs needing volunteers, funders and supporters. See a few here or all of them on the Join In YouTube page.
Collaborating with copywriters, editors and motion graphic artists to sell the concept of Join In.
Watch the success of the first three years of Join In.
Go Local attracted 27,000 people to the Olympic Park in 2013 – the biggest celebration of volunteering the UK has seen.
The ‘Big Help Out’ campaign asked 10,000 people to lend a hand near them, ahead of BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Between London 2012 and Rio 2016, Join In:
Recruited and retained over 115,000 volunteers in UK local sport
Grew from 0% to 12% UK awareness in three years, with very little paid media
Pioneered the use of behavioural science (nudge theory) in volunteer messaging
Created a ground-breaking social impact valuation of volunteers in sport (£53bn annually)
Trended #BigThankYou on Twitter three consecutive years
Successfully grew highly engaged audiences across email (with industry-leading click and open rates), social media and online
Co-created the nation's biggest sports day, I Am Team GB, post-Rio 2016.
“It’s not often you come across someone like Ben Serbutt. Ben was my direct manager during my time at Join In, and is truly an inspiring person to work with.”
— Ed Carroll, designer at Join In
Hidden Diamonds – the true value of volunteers in sport
Going beyond traditional valuation method of cost-replacement, Join In investigated the true social impact value of sports volunteering to personal wellbeing and happiness of the volunteers themselves, plus the wider benefit to their communities. I designed this revealing report into this hidden value as well as helping to deliver the Whitehall event for its launch, led by Lord Gus O’Donnell.
GamesMakers and volunteers returned to the Olympic Park in 2013 for an inspirational festival and concert. The on-site guide was a comic book, with Local Heroes led by Eddie Izzard
Social media assets for a joint campaign with England Boxing and Join In
With the support of ITV in 2015, celebrities and athletes cycled from the set of Coronation Street to Emmerdale to raise the profile of volunteering
“Ben is smart, fast, neat and easy to work with. Ben understands that it's about more than just a design, he thinks about the whole content of a project.
— Will Watt, Strategy and Comms Director at Join In