Posts Tagged ‘race online 2012’

  • Volunteers can make a difference to digital exclusion

    By Hannah Wright On 12th July 10

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    hannah

    Today saw the launch of Race Online’s Manifesto for a Networked Nation, which recognises that the 10 million UK adults who have never used the internet are missing out in all areas of life. Several of the recommendations are aimed at the voluntary sector, as these are nicely summarised on the NCVO blog, so I won’t go into it here.

    Instead, I’m going to tell you about a bloke called Darren who I met at Sidekick Studios recently. Darren runs EcoComputer Systems, a South London-based Social Enterprise that recycles computers and uses them to do good – whether it’s helping socially isolated elderly people to get online, or selling them and using the money to fund training courses for unemployed people and low-income families.

    There are lots of reasons to like the EcoComputers model – it’s recycling, it does good and it makes sense for businesses or charities who would otherwise have to pay someone to take their old stuff away. But what really chimed for me was the attitude towards their volunteers. They see the value in investing in volunteers’ skills & personal development – for example, giving them a refurbished PC to use at home, so they can develop skills which they can then share with the elderly, or supporting their volunteers in setting up a community radio station broadcasting from the shop.

    There’s something really nice about this “pass it on” approach to sharing skills, whether it’s training volunteers from scratch, or teaming up skilled digital media volunteers with voluntary organisations in need of help, as the Media Trust has done through the Community Voices project. I’m sure there are hundreds of examples out there, and many more in development – I’d love to hear more about them.

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