Tag: Voluntary Sector

Digital Challenge: Sunderland wins – Birmingham to share £2m

Congratulations to Sunderland for winning the government’s digital challenge, pocketing £3.5 million to develop a number of community wide digital schemes, including a video conferencing network for voluntary groups in the city, community e-champions (essential in my view to remove the fear and confusion barrier over new technology) and an emphasis on networking and empowering people.

Birmingham’s joint bid with Shropshire still comes away with some recognition. £2 million (an ‘unexpected bonus’ according to Stephen Hilton of the highly energetic Bristol bid) is being made available to a grouping of the 10 finalists in the digital challenge, mainly to allow them to spread what they are learning and encourage wider innovation.

Cllr Paul Tilsley (deputy leader of the council) said the city still has it’s own aspirations:

We are working with schools to develop the concept of ‘Universal Home Access’ which recognises the value that computers have to children’s education. Our partnership with BT is developing a street based Wi-Fi enabled city centre that will enable people with laptops, mobile phones, hand-held computers and devices with Wi-Fi, to access free public and service information from the city centre through the internet.

Like so many of the bids, the one from Birmingham/Shropshire argued for the value of real people on the ground who can share skills and enthusiasm. It’s not just about infrastructure and kit, you need individuals who can encourage people to step over the digital divide in their heads:

based on a model of community champions and brokers that will provide the support at local level to ensure that people can benefit from the digital technologies and understand how they can get the services they need with the confidence to do this.

Our experience on Valentines Day at the Digital Birmingham Marquee in Victoria sqaure was very positive. We were simply offering people a chance to record themselves and have a quick go at some audio editing (listen to some of the results here). Loads of enthusiam and most importantly lots of people telling us – “that’s easy” – which is often the case with technology when you have someone to help.

Highgate Apprentices challenge the government – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

This programme is presented by two teenagers from Highgate in Birmingham. Earlier this month Stephen Hughes and Gareth Deeming spent a day in London talking to ministers and senior civil servants about young people and the communities where they live.

They had a few minutes with Baroness Andrews and recorded their conversation on a mobile phone (they had left for London with a digital recorder – which failed on them!). This forms the core of the podcast, but in it they also explain how they want support to work with a group called SCAWDI to develop a new apprenticeship for young people.

The community apprenticeship is being designed to get young people learning through working in their community, and also expose them to a much wider range of experiences and aspirations. The plan is to lift their lives to the point where they can once again fulfill their full potential.

Some other Grassroots programmes connected with this are:

Cuckoos in a White Middle Class Nest – our first ever programme featuring Barbara Willis Brown on the work of Scawdi.
Junior Street Champions – young people working in Lozells.
The Northfield Young People’s Forum – on controlling public money.
SCAWDI – link to a b:cen briefing on the organisation. (dead link)

Northfield Young People’s Forum "Leaders of Today" – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

selinajenninorthfieldwide

Jenni Rowley and Selina Okunnu of the Northfield Young People’s Forum talk to us about how power is shifting towards the young in Birmingham. From April 2007 the forum, run by 11 to 19 year olds, will have up to £80,000 to offer as grants to the young people of this south Birmingham constituency. There is also an update on a story from July 2006 about Get Hooked on Fishing, based in Bournville.

For any of our dozens of other programmes about active citizens please find the Grassroots channel here.  Any comments are welcome, use the link below or email grassroots@podnosh.com.

Beth Kanter on online fundraising plus widgets and a simple pdf guide – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel

bethkantertight

Beth Kanter of the Sharing Foundation explains how they used the internet to raise $100,000 for children in Cambodia. I’ve known Beth through blogging for a few months now, but finally met her in Birmingham earlier this month.

She is an expert on the internet and non-profit organisations and in this podcast she talks about how you combine online tools such as widgets with the power of your networks, whether real or virtual, to encourage people to give money to support to your cause. She also writes about how they raised the money here on her blog and an earlier experiment with ChipIn here. Read more