The national ICT Champions team are asking voluntary and community organisations to participate in a survey of VCS ICT support. To take part visit: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ictsurvey2010 

The project is concerned about where organisations will find help in the future and the main objective of this survey is to create a 'directory' of some form which is accessible to everyone and informs people where they can get the support they need locally.

The survey then is about who offers any sort or information and communication technology (ICT) support for voluntary and community groups. Not necessarily who are the dedicated technical support providers and website designers etc, we're more interested to learn about general support organisations who might for example also do basic Microsoft Office training, or have their own list of technical support providers to signpost their members and groups to, or perhaps they do basic computer use classes.

This survey is part of a NAVCA ICT Champions project funded by Capacitybuilders, investigating information and communication technology support for voluntary and community groups in England.

emda is launching the Rural Broadband Fund, funded through the Rural Development Programme for England. The funding can contribute towards developing innovative approaches that address existing gaps in rural broadband coverage. These approaches can include:

• Community broadband projects
• Projects that seek to upgrade existing infrastructure to exceed the proposed Universal Service Commitment speed of 2Mbit/s
• Projects that enable early deployment of next generation compatible solutions

Organisations eligible to apply are: businesses, charities, community groups, and local consortia. The closing date for Expressions of Interest is the 13th September 2010.

For further information: http://www.emda.org.uk/rdpe/broadband.asp?nav=08&snav=0802

There is a ‘Communication and social media' workshop on 13 October in Leicester. This workshop is part of a series being run for development workers in local support organisations and for staff in local volunteer centres. It is one of a number of regional workshops that are being delivered by the NAVCA ICT Champions and Red Foundation as part of the Capacitybuilders' Modernising Volunteering & Regional ICT Champions work. For further details see: Events

In September/October the regional ICT project is offering a series of ICT workshops for third sector local infrastructure organisations (LIOs). These are aimed at development workers and other staff involved in providing support to frontline organisations. The purpose of these workshops is to enable development workers to be more skilled and confident about supporting organisations with their ICT needs.

Wednesday 15th September - Leicester

Monday 20th September - Nottingham

Wednesday 29th September – Chesterfield and Northampton

Tuesday 5th October - Lincoln

For further information see:  ICT workshops 

NIACE are running two half day workshops in Leicester on Friday 9 July. These workshops are for people who help make informal adult learning happen. Find out how the adults who learn with you can make the Digital Age work for them! These two half-day workshops aim to provide you with an overview of how technology can be used to support informal adult learning and access to resources which they can use to build their skills. They will explore how digital technology can be used by learning groups to make their learning experiences really exciting. For further details:

Morning workshop, 9:45am to 12:45pm

http://www.niace.org.uk/campaigns-events/events/informal-adult-learning-in-the-digital-age

Afternoon workshop, 1:30pm to 4:30pm

http://www.niace.org.uk/campaigns-events/events/learning-with-technology-materials 

E-Access Bulletin's sixth annual conference and exhibition on access to technology by people with disabilities, e-Access '10, takes place on 13 July 2010 at Olympia 2 Conference Centre, London. This year, the event is co-hosted by OneVoice for Accessible ICT Coalition, the UK's leading umbrella body for organisations promoting access to technology by all. For further information:  www.abilitynet.org.uk/newsarticle95/

Freerunner is offering to install free WiFi wireless internet access in 50 public places for at least three years. The company will also install the Freerunner service for free in 500 charity buildings, provided that they have broadband access.

Let Freerunner know why your community needs WiFi and they will come and install a totally free service in a public place for 3 years (or possibly longer). They currently have enough in the fund to pay for 50 communities in the UK.

For an application form visit www.freerunr.com/community/.

Get Connected, a fund from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), will distribute £12 million in investment grants over one year to support the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in adult social care. The grants are designed for the benefit of people who use services and to support staff training. Investment funding of up to a value of £20,000 is available for eligible adult social care organisations in England.

Find out more about the project at www.scie.org.uk/workforce/getconnected/.

A series of social media workshops will be taking place around the country in June and July. The workshops are designed particularly for development workers in local support and development organisations, and those providing support and advice in volunteer centres.

These workshops are being delivered by the NAVCA ICT Champions and Red Foundation as part of the work of Capacitybuilders' Modernising Volunteering & Regional ICT Champions.

The workshop dates currently being offered are:

2nd June – CAN Mezzanine, Old Street, London

23rd June – The Circle, Voluntary Action Sheffield, Rockingham Street, Sheffield

7th July – (Venue TBC), North East

8th July – The Bolton Hub, Bolton CVS, Bold Street, Bolton

15th July – BVSC, 138 Digbeth, Birmingham

N.B. Those based within the East Midlands would be welcome to attend any of the above workshops. A workshop from this national programme will be offered in the East Midlands later in the year (probably in Leicester)

For booking details and further information, see: www.item3.org.uk/events

'An introduction to social media' - workshops for third sector infrastructure organisations

16th March 2010 - Nottinghamshire

25th March 2010 - Derby

Would you like to know more about social media and how it might benefit your organisation? Organised by the East Midlands Regional ICT Champion, these workshops provide an introduction to social media and its potential uses by third sector organisations. For further information:

http://www.item3.org.uk/Events

NDI10 will seek to build momentum in the digital inclusion community by inspiring action and partnership and looking at practical ways in which we can ensure that this agenda can be sustained. The conference will bring together key digital inclusion players, providers, policy makers and practitioners to share best practice, make connections and practical pledges to make DI happen.For more information:

https://www.eventsforce.net/civic/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=6475&eventID=27

Tickets for third sector organisations are priced at £50 + VAT.

Location: London.

Co-Operative Systems specialises in providing ICT services to 3rd Sector organisations and have organised this milestone free event bringing Dell, Microsoft and the 3rd sector together for the first time.

Why you should attend this event:

• Find out why Windows7 really does make using your PC easier, and how to get even more by using it with Microsoft's new Server and Exchange releases
• From the Desk to the Cloud. Microsoft's decision to embrace cloud computing will affect all IT users, get a sneak preview at what they are up to
• Dell's new Enterprise Solutions offer higher reliability, better performance and lower power usage, hear from Dell themselves on these exciting developments

For more information see - www.coopsys.net/news  
Demand is likely to be high so to book your space please email phil@coopsys.net

2pm Wednesday 20th January 2010, Microsoft's London HQ  (near Victoria Station, London SW1)

The Community Voices Project aims to inspire, engage and support disadvantaged and isolated communities across England to get their voices heard through Digital Media. Led by Media Trust, and running until March 2011, Community Voices will provide funding of up to £14,000 for 26 grassroots groups to develop media projects in their communities, alongside one major new initiative. Media Trust will also provide comprehensive tools and resources for communities to increase engagement through digital media.

Funding applications are now open - to express your interest and to find out more visit: http://www.mediatrust.org/communityvoices/get-involved/

You can also email communityvoices@mediatrust.org or call 0207 217 3751.

If you are already using digital media to give a community a voice you can help to inspire other people to get their voices heard by applying for one of £500 Inspiring Voices Awards (they have one a week to give away until the end of March 2010):
http://www.mediatrust.org/communityvoices/inspiring-voices/ 

The regional ICT project will shortly be offering ICT workshops for third sector local infrastructure organisations (LIOs). These will be aimed at development workers and other staff involved in providing support to frontline organisations. The purpose of these workshops is to enable LIO development workers to be more skilled and confident about supporting organisations with their ICT needs. For example, the workshops will provide key tools for signposting organisations to appropriate sources of help, including the wide range of ICT resources which are available online.

Topics covered will include: What help is available to organisations, Benefits of ICT, Costing and funding ICT, ICT planning, DiY health checks, Social media, Other resources and ‘top tips'.  N.B. These workshops have been designed for non-technical staff – you do not need to be an ICT ‘expert' to take part, quite the opposite.

The project would like your help in shaping the workshops. ‘Please to help us finalise the content for upcoming workshops in your area by answering our short questionnaire' :

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=f2_2fDkxYcRdGaFZQ_2bu7495A_3d_3d

The survey is aimed at development workers and other staff involved in providing support to frontline organisations. By answering the questionnaire you can also let the project know if you might be interested in attending a workshop.

For more information about the workshops or the wider project, please contact Andrew Tristram or Linda Hooton at PurpleZebra on 01623 727650 or by email admin@purplezebra.org.uk

Promoting the Digital Activist Inclusion Network

Free conference

Thursday 10 December 2009

The Indian Community Centre Association, 99 Hucknall Road, Carrington Nottingham NG5 1QZ

Background

The Digital Activist Inclusion Network (DAIN) is an exciting innovative transnational project which aims to develop, test and deliver approaches to challenge the digital divide, ultimately helping to widen participation in employment and learning.

DAIN will operate in eight areas across the East Midlands. The project will deliver 200 community-based Information & Communication Technology courses per year and will recruit, train and support at least 100 volunteers from the local target communities who will be known as Digital Activists. The role of the Digital Activist will be to engage and encourage people experiencing digital exclusion to get involved in using digital technology.

This conference will explore practical approaches to challenging digital exclusion. The event will be of particular interest to:

- volunteers and those who are considering taking up this role
- local and regional community and voluntary sector organisations
- learning providers
- those engaged in production of new media, e.g. film makers, podcasters; and
- service providers promoting online services.

To reserve a place online or download the brochure, visit:

http://www.niace.org.uk/campaigns-events/events/tackling-technology-together

Enquiries to Gurjit Kaur, NIACE Events Team - Tel: 0116 204 2833 or e-mail: gurjit.kaur@niace.org.uk

The Regional ICT Project is now up and running, and is offering ICT health-checks to third sector infrastructure organisations. 45 organisations across the region will be able to benefit from these in depth ICT health-checks, which are fully funded by BIG Lottery fund. The health-checks will help organisations to review their uses of ICT and to plan for the future.

http://www.item3.org.uk/index.asp?ID=209

N.B. These health-checks are only available to third sector infrastructure organisations.

Alongside the ICT health checks, the project will also be offering ICT workshops for third sector infrastructure organisations. These will be aimed at development workers and other staff involved in providing support to frontline organisations. The purpose of these workshops is to enable staff to become more skilled and confident about supporting organisations with their ICT needs. For example, the workshops will provide key tools for signposting organisations to appropriate sources of help, including the wide range of ICT resources which are available online. For further information about the ICT workshops:

http://www.item3.org.uk/index.asp?ID=210

 

Do you know a community or charitable organisation that is looking for IT equipment and wants to get online?  If so, they can apply for a BT Community Connections award today. BT Community Connections is an award scheme which enables community and charitable organisations to get online. Groups can apply for a laptop and a year’s free broadband connection. Award packages will be given to groups who can demonstrate how an award will benefit their work and the local community.

Any organisation , working in any field of community benefit, located anywhere within the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland can apply.  In the past voluntary projects, silver-surfers, conservation organisations , family support groups, sports teams and youth groups have been successful.  To find out more and see case studies from past winners simply visit www.btcommunityconnections.com  T he deadline for postal applications is 5 January 2010. The deadline for online applications is 7 January 2010.

The WEA East Midlands Region has announced a new project that aims to develop, test and deliver approaches to challenge the digital divide, ultimately helping to widen participation in employment and learning. DAIN will operate in 8 areas across the East Midlands starting in Nottingham, Leicester, Chesterfield and Lincoln in year one. The project will deliver 200 community based ICT courses per year and will recruit, train and support at least 100 volunteers from the local target communities who will be known as Digital Activists. The role of the Digital Activist will be to engage and encourage people experiencing digital exclusion to get involved in using digital technology. For further information please contact Andria Birch, DAIN Manager on 0115 9858203 or dain@wea.org.uk.

A new regional ICT infrastructure project will shortly be launched in the East Midlands. The project will provide support and advice to third sector infrastructure organisations throughout the region, including ICT ‘health checks’ and workshops for development workers. The project has been made possible by a succesful funding bid, which will see an investment of over £300K in ICT from the Big Lottery Fund over the next three years.

A new website providing a guide to over 4,000 funding, contract and loan opportunities has been launched by NCVO and funded by the Office of the Third Sector. Funding Central is a free website and accessible to all, and can be found at: www.fundingcentral.org.uk