ICT Hub April 2007 Newsletter
view printable versionThe content of this newsletter was last edited on 8th August 2008
April is the cruellest month but at least Easter is around the corner. This month sees a new style newsletter – shorter, punchier but no less effective! We hope you enjoy it. The main features are How to Cost and Fund ICT and a perspective on Ethics in the voluntary sector. Time to make that ICT grant application?
Content
ICT news
Chief Execs need to understand ICT now or else fail their organisations
For business, read charitable organisations. If you don’t know what IT is
doing, it can’t help you and if it can’t help you, you’re going nowhere (or backwards)
www.itpro.co.uk/news/106512/chief-execs-told-to-learn-about-it-or-fail-at-business.html.
8 in 10 people have never used the internet - here's your chance to do something about it!
Silver Surfers' Day 07 (SSD07) is on May 25th this year, the Friday of Adult
Learners' Week. It's easy to join in and your event can be as small or elaborate, as domestic
or corporate, as you like. All you need is an online computer and a friendly
disposition. SSD07 is an easy way to 'do something' for those 8 in 10. Many of our
older relatives, friends, colleagues, family simply won't engage with the digital revolution unless
all of us do our bit. There's a chance of Awards, too: do you know someone who could be a
Silver Surfer of the Year? Could you be Event Holder of the Year? There are some nice prizes
this year, and awards take place at the House of Commons in October. Visit
www.silversurfersday.org.
FREE learning materials for IT tutors and community development workers
The EverybodyOnline Hub, has produced more, FREE learning materials for IT tutors and
community development workers to deliver introductory Internet learning sessions. Informative and
engaging, the materials can be utilised as a practical way of using ICT to include all members of
society. From Mothers Day to digital photography; the topics cater for different hobbies and
interests and are based at an introductory level with step by step instructions for the less
experienced ICT facilitator. More at
www.citizensonline.org.uk/EOLhub/toolkits
or contact Jacquie Linton, EverybodyOnline Hub Resource Manager on 01793 882 800.
Making your email more efficient and effective
Frustrated by email? Looking to improve efficiency? How to give up your bad habits (and
persuade your colleagues to do the same) -
www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page6175.cfm
New Media and Web 2.0 Articles of the Month
Why aren’t all charities getting overcome with excitement about Web 2 and blogging?
Could it have something to do with the way we actually work and the fact existing tools work
perfectly well for some of us?
www.designingforcivilsociety.org/2007/03/charity_web_man.html.
Direct/email marketing and donor retention management
If you didn’t make it to the Perfect Pitch event last month, here’s your chance to download
the presentations, find out some ideas and potential solutions to your issues.
www.fundraising.co.uk/perfectpitch.php?pageid=82.
Helping disabled users in the community
AbilityNet is recruiting voluntary organisations to work with as Community Partners from July
2007. The partners will provide practical help to voluntary organisations in their region,
receiving a package of support and funding from AbilityNet. There are 4 vacancies in England
and Wales. More at
www.abilitynet.org.uk/soc/index.htm.
Mad story of the month
Bomb suspect sues Microsoft over undeleted records (You’ve got to respect the right to
privacy, haven’t you?) -
www.out-law.com/page-7838.
Ethics and ICT
Does ICT have an ethical dimension? From using free and open source software to ensuring you
have paid for your software licences, from using resources appropriately to having the right
policies and procedures and protecting your staff, where does ethics start and end?
Case study of the month
Email has helped the Samaritans save lives
Samaritans is available 24 hours a day to provide confidential emotional support for people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those which may lead to suicide.
Samaritans launched an email service in 1999. They now receive over 2,500 emails every week, sent to jo@samaritans.org
Their email address is short, easily remembered, could be male or female and makes it feel like a real person is at the other end. Messages aren’t always answered by the same person but the thousands of volunteers who answer the emails are all known as Jo. Samaritans aims to answer all messages within 24 hours. In some ways email is just another medium to do the same work of supporting people in emotional need and although volunteers do receive specific training in using email, the principles and practices of giving advice are the same as by phone.
Email is often thought of as a fairly impersonal way to communicate and prone to misunderstandings due to the lack of vocal and body language cues. However, it is also a fairly anonymous way to say how you feel and some people can express their feelings better in writing than on the phone. For example, email contacts are more likely to mention having suicidal thoughts than phone callers are.
More men contact Samaritans by email than by phone. Since suicide is one of the biggest killers of men between 15 and 24, and because they often find it hard to give voice to their feelings, email is an important other way to enable them to talk in confidence. Young people generally are among those most at risk of the kind of emotional distress that can lead to suicide, but are also among those who find it hardest to talk about their feelings.
Email is a preferred means of communication for many young people and it makes it easier for them to contact Samaritans about issues that trouble them. The stigma attached to asking for help and worries about anonymity can feel less when conversing by email rather than phone.
Samaritans’ research had found that young people tended to assume that Samaritans wouldn’t be of help to them and they had only heard of the phone support side of the organisation. That’s why a major campaign called Who is Jo? went out on tv, radio, cinemas and in print, to raise awareness of the email service among young people. Previously the charity had not advertised its email service widely.
Confidentiality is important in maintaining trust, which is why the charity’s volunteers don’t have access to the actual email address used by the person they are supporting. The software that Samaritans use to manage their email system makes all conversation anonymous.
Contact: Michael Cobb, Press Officer
Website:
www.samaritans.org.uk
Email:
m.cobb@samaritans.org
Progressio and IT volunteering
In a few short months an IT volunteer made a big difference to this advocacy organisation
www.it4communities.org.uk/it4c/casestudies/progression2.jsp.