Case Study: Kerry strengthens Pavilion in the Park’s digital presence through AI and design skills
Kerry Smith, Community Relationship Manager at Pavilion in the Park (PiP) in Poundbury, joined the two-day Guest Centric Marketing: Digital Tools to Personalise, Promote & Perform masterclass at the Weymouth Digital Skills Hub to strengthen the digital capacity of her organisation. The course focused heavily on AI, Canva, branding tools, digital workflows and smarter marketing techniques, all immediately relevant to her role.
PiP is part of The Talk About Trust, a Dorset based charity dedicated to early intervention and reducing alcohol and substance related harms for under 25s across the UK. In Poundbury, the charity also runs the PiP Community Hub, which supports the mental and physical health, wellbeing, resilience and social cohesion of the community through an extensive range of inclusive activities for all ages.
Many people still assume PiP is “just a café”, but it is in fact a community space hosting over 20 groups and services, from youth clubs and art sessions to senior socials and weekly park runs. Kerry’s goal was to help the charity communicate this full story more effectively.
Using digital skills to transform branding and visibility
During the masterclass, Kerry began to see how tools like Canva and AI could help PiP present a more unified, professional identity. The course covered practical skills such as developing brand kits, creating templates, using AI design tools, and building consistent digital materials across platforms.
“I can see now, in my role, where I can get us to.”
Before the course, producing a single poster could take hours, “falling down a rabbit hole,” as she described it. Now, with Canva templates and AI powered shortcuts, Kerry can produce high quality branded materials far more efficiently, helping raise awareness of PiP’s broader charitable mission.
She has already begun sharing these new skills with colleagues, who are now producing consistent branded content as part of a strengthened social media strategy.
AI as a time saver, and a confidence builder
As a part time staff member, Kerry found AI especially transformative. She and the team are now using ChatGPT regularly to support:
- content creation for social media
- fast drafting of grant funding applications
- idea generation and planning
- refining messaging for community outreach
She described AI as a valuable time saver, especially given the breadth of her responsibilities.
Importantly, the course also helped her overcome the anxieties many people feel when first approaching digital tools. Kerry shared openly:
“You always think that everybody else knows. I was frightened of it.”
Learning alongside peers of a similar age helped her feel more relaxed and supported — turning that initial fear into confidence and curiosity.