Partner Article

IT helps voluntary groups get online

A new IT project is helping voluntary sector organisations across the region are making their online presence felt without having to spend thousands of pounds. The Community IT Academy in Newcastle is using no-cost software to develop new or improved websites for 20 different organisations, and giving them specialist training to manage the sites effectively themselves.

It means groups can establish the online presence they need to promote their work, keep their funders informed and provide a point of reference for partners and service users, but don’t have to spend their limited budgets on commercial web development and management services.

Lewis Atkinson, Community IT Academy manager, said: “We wanted to test out this service because so many voluntary groups were coming to us for help.

“Many of them had websites already, but they were either very complicated to maintain so were ending up completely out of date, or groups were paying a third party to manage the site for them - a cost which many voluntary organisations can’t sustain. Others were looking to create an online presence for the first time, but simply couldn’t afford even the basic price for the commercial development of a website.

“The sites certainly don’t pretend to be flashy, but they do the job and are really easy for groups to maintain themselves which is absolutely key.”

The project is already working with groups such as Frog in Middlesbrough, Wearside Women in Need, CORE in Berwick and the North East Refugee Forum.

For more information about the Community IT Academy, visit www.communityitacademy.org.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .