It's perhaps surprising that in the 21^st century, in an area so close to the centre of London and within good earshot of Big Ben that so much poverty still exists here. The cliché of a home being a cardboard box under a Waterloo Bridge is sadly not a myth. So when Spectrecom moved to Waterloo at the beginning of the year we knew that we were going to want to support a local community initiative. The Waterloo Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) has provided us with the perfect opportunity. This organisation works to bring the local community, businesses and charities together for mutual benefit.

At a meeting in August, Spectrecom pitched against other local businesses and organisations for the opportunity to help drive a new community initiative – and won!

We proposed a challenge modelled on BBC's 'The Apprentice', the intention being partly to help raise money for charity, but primarily to raise awareness of local issues and to get businesses and charities working together for the common good. A number of teams will be formed of individuals from different organisations, and Spectrecom has offered to film each team as they try to raise funds for a chosen charity. The precise nature of the challenges is yet to be announced, but it's going to be involving, fun, and ultimately profitable for the charities concerned. The resulting film will be shown to all the members of each team at Spectrecom’s Waterloo Film Studios in Studio 1, just before Christmas, and the participating organisations will then be able to use selected material to highlight their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities on their own websites.

This community project is going to require a significant investment in our time and resources. We're looking at 10 shooting days, multi-camera shoots, a considerable amount of editing time, and a major studio event. However, I'm comfortable with the idea that businesses can profit from their altruistic activities as much as the beneficiaries – there's no harm in there being a two-way deal. And in this instance, filming the project will very quickly make every local business in Waterloo aware of our presence and capabilities. It should also provide yet another excellent example in the use of online video in bringing communities together.

The videos for this project will be ready to view on the Spectrecom website on 4 January 2011.

In the meantime, here’s a video produced by the Waterloo Quarter Business Improvement District (BID) about Lower Marsh, a truly historic street, plus a great place for shopping, eating and drinking. Just 8 minutes walk from the London Eye.