Alan Reid says that planning is key in the bid to get communities more active and connected
At Piliana we want to mitigate the problem of loneliness by being the modern day version of the village notice board.
At present, most organisations rely on users either seeking them out to find out what activities they have going on, or through word of mouth.
The trouble with this method is that you actually need to know what you are looking for, and nine times out of 10 either the activities are unavailable to you due to the fact that they are sold out or not running on the particular day you are interested in, or you need to first join that particular club/group. This can be tedious and time consuming, and usually relies entirely on local knowledge to know what is happening around you.
We take a different approach. Most people don’t actually know what they want to do (resulting in an endless scroll through social media), and very few people plan much further ahead than the coming weekend, and there is no point in seeing activities that are scheduled for months in advance or are happening on the other side of the world, as this is not useful to the average person who wants something fast and local.
Once a user is registered on Piliana our site only shows you what is happening near you in the next seven days. This might be a yoga class in the village hall, or the local running club’s training run, or coffee at the church. It can be just about anything, because anyone who has registered can post and host an activity, even if it’s just a dog walk!
All activities show up on the singular page, featuring a map with pins dropped indicating the surrounding activities that are available, the user can easily see what is happening, when and where; and if they like the sound of it then they can join up and go, simple as that.
When someone is lonely or depressed it can be easy to find excuses not to join in and take part in activities, and more often than not they don’t know what they are looking for. By stripping away as many of these excuses as we can, we hope to increase the chance of someone seizing the moment and getting out there.
We also believe, there are a lot of people who want to help others, but find it difficult as people who feel lonely don't often feel comfortable showing it, believing it is a sign of weakness and vulnerability. Nobody wears a sticker saying 'I’m lonely”.
Our platform can help society as a whole, whether it is sports clubs trying to attract new members, community halls advertising their weekly events, tourists hoping to immerse themselves in local culture, or charities wanting to share their activities. By reconnecting us together we can end loneliness.
If the above sounds interesting then come and talk to us at stand 75.
We may be starting out, but have high aspirations.
Alan Reid is creator of Piliana, which aims to help people reconnect with their communities and meet new people. Piliana are at stand 75 at The Gathering.
