BITCoop

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The evaluation of the Wales CVC Circuit Rider pilot which ran from November 2006 to May 2008 is now available.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 The aim of the project was to pilot a developmental ICT support service to voluntary and community groups, with 4 organisations working together on a regional basis. Funded by Communities @One, a Welsh Assembly and European funded project, the partnership consisted of four County Voluntary Councils (CVCs) in Pembrokeshire, Ceredigeon, Carmarthenshire and Merthyr Tydfil.

The project delivered three complementary approaches to ICT support and development:

1. Promotion of digital inclusion through the use of new technologies through the 123‐ communicate model which is an established tailored programme to encourage groups to get involved in ICT at their own pace.
2. Provision of ICT Technical support and development by a team of Circuit Riders which was co-ordinated through the central ICT Helpdesk.
3. Research activity and development of ‘ICT Information and Support Centre’ (VICTOR- see http://victorwales.org.uk) The partnership produced a draft Regional ICT Strategy as well as model ICT policies and procedures.

The 82 supported organisations were assigned a local Circuit Rider who carried out an initial fact-finding visit to see what they did and what their initial ICT involvement was, along with an ICT healthcheck if appropriate. By the end of the project:

• 66% of groups created their own website
• 54% of groups had practical help with technical issues and forward planning
• 33% benefited from technical and website support

The full report can be downloaded (pdf file, 800Kb) from http://www.ukriders.info/system/files/WALES+CVC_evaluation.pdf

Many thanks to Catherine, Phil and Rae at CVC Circuit Riders.

Earlier this year Lasa ran a number of training courses around Circuit Riding for Refugee and Asylum seekers.

The ten training courses covered Introduction to the voluntary and community sector in the UK, what Circiuit Riders do, routes to experience and employment as a Circuit Rider, identifying learning plans, healthchecks and more...

Put simply, a circuit rider is a mobile worker who provides ICT support and development to a caseload of small voluntary organisations and who works in collaboration with other circuit riders. If you want to know more visit our So what is a circuit rider? page.

What struck us was the enthusiasm and confidence that was built up amongst those attending the course.

To see what some of them thought then watch the video below

As well as the video we have attached a transcirpt of what is said.

The entry level 5-user version of Lasa's case management contact database system AIMS is now available free of charge. It can be downloaded from the main Lasa web site at www.lasa.org.uk/aims

The AIMS team amended the original Access version of the AIMS Core package, giving people all the features but limiting it to a maximum of 5 users. AIMS is a useful free resource for community groups needing to report on their client services. See the Lasa website for more information or email the AIMS team on aims@lasa.org.uk.

Colleagues, Next week I'm facilitating a session titled: Connection and Collaboration: the role that technology  plays in connecting people and information

14 October 2008 10am-1pm followed by lunch - Venue: LVSC, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA

• Description - I'll demonstrate to how simple-to-use, low cost tech tools can strengthen the connection between members, the wider sector and other stakeholders. We will actually attempt to set up, in under an hour, a blogging platform to engage people online and share resources - as recently demonstrated with the Cascade membership in July and August 2008 Please can anyone wanting to come to the session book via anna@lvsc.org.uk

Marc

www.summitcollaborative.com

Colleagues, Next week I'm facilitating a session titled: Connection and Collaboration: the role that technology  plays in connecting people and information

14 October 2008 10am-1pm followed by lunch - Venue: LVSC, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA

• Description - I'll demonstrate to how simple-to-use, low cost tech tools can strengthen the connection between members, the wider sector and other stakeholders. We will actually attempt to set up, in under an hour, a blogging platform to engage people online and share resources - as recently demonstrated with the Cascade membership in July and August 2008 Please can anyone wanting to come to the session book via anna@lvsc.org.uk

Marc

www.summitcollaborative.com

Are you interested in using CiviCRM (a popular organisational database / client relation management system) but are unsure about how to get started? Are you using CiviCRM and want to share experiences and meet with other clients and developers that use it?

Next Tuesday 30th September, experienced and new users, non profits interested in using CiviCRM will get together with developers and consulants for the UK CiviCRM usergroup. It's a great way to find out if CiviCRM will be suitable for your organisation, and talk with others in an informal setting.

CiviCRM UK usergroup meetings happen once every two months in different parts of the UK. Full details of the upcoming and all other meetings on the CiviCRM blog (http://blog.civicrm.org/node/434) and website.

Please confirm attendance before hand so we have an idea of numbers.