IT4Communities, an organisation that matches IT
professionals with charities and community projects in need of help
with their IT, is looking for volunteers willing to donate their
technical expertise.
Set up in 2002, IT4Communities provides the framework to
optimise the value of those volunteering their technical expertise.
It is currently expanding and aims to deliver to charities £1m
worth of work a year from the 3,000 registered IT professional
volunteers on its books.
Volunteers from the IT profession have already given up more
than £600,000 worth of their time to help local communities and
charities through the IT4Communities scheme since it began.
IT4Communities currently has more than 1,000 charities with
1,300 projects wanting help, and is looking for IT professionals
from a range of backgrounds who are willing to donate their IT
expertise to help them in an effective and constructive way.
IT4Communities is supported by Computer Weekly, the British
Computer Society, the Worshipful Company of Information
Technologists, Business in the Community, IT suppliers organisation
Intellect, and Citizens Online.
"We oil the wheels, and the volunteers do the work," said John
Davies, programme director at IT4Communities.
He stressed that he is looking for people who can help with
project work, not with ongoing technical support.
Charities are looking for a wide range of help, from merging
databases and setting up websites to getting computers to network
effectively. At the top-end, needs have included creating an
information strategy, and at a basic level, giving a few hours to
help charity staff learn the basics of Word and Excel.
Davies is keen to get company IT departments involved, saying
that there are business benefits in encouraging staff to volunteer.
"Volunteering helps broaden staff skills as they will be working in
a very different context," he said.
"It is also good for staff morale, which feeds into improving
recruitment and retention. Supporting such activity also helps
improve the company's public profile too."
IT4Communities helps volunteers ask the right questions of the
charities, all of which have been briefed about the sort of
projects IT professionals can be expected to contribute to. It also
advises volunteers to ensure that they and the charity are going to
be comfortable working with each other, that the project is
deliverable within any time constraints volunteers may have, and
that issues of liability and insurance are covered.
To volunteer, or for further information, contact IT4Communities
programme director John Davies
john@it4communities.org.uk
www.it4communities.org.uk
020 7796 2144
Charity projects in need of IT expertise
IT4Communities is looking for IT professionals in the North West
(especially Manchester and Liverpool), the South West and Wales.
These are areas where there are currently more projects than
volunteers, and the organisation would like to hear from Computer
Weekly readers who may be able to help. Projects include:
- Revamping a website for a charity in Liverpool that helps
people transition effectively into retirement
- Setting up a website for a rural community transport
organisation in Honiton, Devon
- Installing a multimedia package for a charity in Bangor that
helps people with a disability find work through training and work
experience
- Providing a website to help a charity that operates 10
after-school clubs in the Wrexham area
- Revamping a website for a community transport charity in
Barnstaple, North Devon
- Website development for a Worcestershire-based charity that
trains volunteer mentors to work with children in five local
schools.