Archive for the 'Social Inclusion' Category

Wiggly Wigglers: A Success Story

Published on 2 December 2009 in Emerging Technology, Facebook, Information Management, Knowledge Management, Reference, Social Inclusion, Social Media, Topics and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

 

Wiggly Wigglers is a company that cropped up more than once at the Digital Britain briefing. Heather Gorringe founded the sustainable gardening business in 1990. Based on a farm in rural Herefordshire, she started selling worms for compost bins and now has a turnover of £2.5m offering everything from goats’ hair socks to plants and bird food.

Using online technology, Heather made her business a success. Being based on a farm, she had no passing trade therefore relied on the internet. She states ‘To us, there’s no difference between DM, email, web, blogs, podcasts, videos and Facebook – they all bring us feedback and sales’.

Another key move in her path to success was letting customers being a part of the idea generation process. They built their catalogue within a private wiki web page where customers request what they want, for example one customer requested a push lawnmower which Heather had not thought of, but it ended up being an excellent addition to the range. Having communication and engagement with the customers allowed the business to grow, using simple online social networking. Keeping up interest with blogs and podcasts, Wiggly Wigglers is still growing.

The speakers at the briefing used this success story to highlight how big a part broadband played in this story, and without it rural areas, small business such as farms, are getting left behind and being put at a disadvantage.

Along with this I see this story as an excellent example of what can be achieved using social media. The use of blogs, podcasts and social networking on Facebook and Twitter creates interest, engagement and communities. By combining the use of all these resources one person can tell a message to a million people, the opportunities are endless and there isn’t a better time to get on board than now!

Website – http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/

Blog – http://wigglywigglers.blogspot.com/

Podcast – http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/podcasts/

Twitter – http://twitter.com/wiggled

People’s Voice Media

Published on 1 December 2009 in Emerging Technology, Social Inclusion, Social Media, Topics and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

Gary Coptitch, Chief Exec of ‘Peoples Voice Media: Connecting Communities’ gave a presentation at the Westminster Briefing.

 Who are they…..?

  • PVM are a ‘not for profit’ community development organisation that uses social media to support digital inclusion and online social networking.

 What do they do….?

  • They support individuals and communities to have a voice, and to create relationships and dialogue, forge new relationships and develop their own solutions
  • Aim for individuals to become the ‘Reuters of the Community’ enabling communities to create content for themselves and for a wider audience

 Objectives….?

  • to provide opportunities for people to develop ICT skills, access information, contribute to their communities and participate in society
  • to highlight community activity, bring people together and support community regeneration through the use of Social Media
  • to build the capacity of the community and voluntary sector, providing information and promoting services utilizing current and emerging technologies

 Gary stated that technology does not just mean computers, he talked about ‘technology on the pocket’; mobile phones, cameras, audio and video recorders. He stressed that anyone can create content whether it be a video clip with no audio, just an audio clip, just text and picture or all these things together. Each person is different and so is the content they create.

He works with individuals and other organisations to create audio application forms and video CV’s and working together to make them widely accepted. There are many jobs where the candidate does not need to be able to read or write, see or hear, and therefore there should be an application process which matches this.

 PVM also have Social Media Centres that run Drop-in sessions, accredited and informal learning and training, ability to access and create a social space and have peer support. They have community reporters who create the content, dialogue and discussion for community websites, community newspapers, e-newsletters, Internet TV and Internet Radio Stations.

 In particular I found Gary’s summary very useful and believe it is in such a format that I can apply to the work that I am doing:

 Involve:

As many people as possible

Create:

Content that is relevant, user generated and multiplatform

Discuss:

Create dialogue and discussion online and offline

Promote:

Distribution channels up, down and sideways

Measure:

Through qualitative and quantitative evaluation

 To find out more go to the website http://peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk/ or the Twitter http://twitter.com/peoplesvoice

‘Why do we need a Digital Britain?’

Published on 1 December 2009 in Emerging Technology, Information Management, Knowledge Management, Social Inclusion, Social Media, Topics and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

I attended a briefing called “A Digital Britain for Everyone: Innovating Public Service and New Business Opportunities through Access and Skills for All” last week in London.  The briefing was about having broadband and computers in every home across Britain to help families, communities and small businesses take advantage of modern infrastructure.

Something which has stayed with me from the briefing was one of the first questions that was asked: ‘Why do we need a Digital Britain?’. In response to this the speaker showed this quote by Charles Darwin;

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

This idea of adapting to change stands out to me, I am frequently questioned upon the need for internet and emerging technologies in education and it is often those who are resisting change that ask. However those who are adaptable to change are the ones who are benefiting the most.
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This is something that I will keep in mind when presenting new ideas to others, and ask them to also consider this.

 Further details on the speakers will follow

The latest Pass Out

Published on 23 July 2007 in Social Inclusion and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

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I was lucky enough to attend a recent ‘Pass Out’ ceremony from one of the Beacon Courses at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. A group of young people who had successfully completed a training course about Fire Safety and Prevention ‘graduated’ one afternoon in July! The display included demonstrations of skills learnt on the course including how to put out fires. To the amateur eye they looked pretty serious – as you can see from some of the images on Flickr. For anyone attending the event was very impressive, but when you learn that was course number 68, and that at any one time several courses are in operation, well that really is impressive.

Research highlights Class Divide in Social Sites

Published on 6 July 2007 in Social Inclusion and Social Media. 0 Comments

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The BBC recently published an article on Social sites (MySpace and Facebook) and class divide. The article is based on recent research by US PhD student Danah Boyd from the School of Information Sciences at UC Berkeley. The research highlights that Facebook users are more likely to come from wealthier homes then MySpace users. The research is based on interviews with American teenagers, but are things so clear cut here? As part of the OurOpenSpace project we will be ensuring our work is accessible to as many young people as possible; regardless if family income or education; but the research raises important points when deciding which social network to work with if you intend to reach a specific group of people. Social networking sites all have a clear focus, in my opinion MySpace is more music oriented so anyone more focussed on entertainment will flock there rather than the slightly more serious looking Facebook. Similarly, people go where their friends are; which might not be a natural choice if their friends weren’t already in one or the other social site. We’ll be keeping close tabs on this topic in relation to social media and social inclusion projects.

Image: BBC

Kensington Vision

Published on 7 June 2007 in Information Management, Knowledge Management, Social Inclusion and Youth Engagement. 0 Comments

Kensington Vision

Kensington Vision gives the people of Kensington, Liverpool, a unique opportunity to access the latest local information – from news, sport, & video diaries to business information, jobs, training & education. It is a project focussed on delivering local content, created by local people, and making full use of cutting edge technologies.

Whether you are 8 or 80, Kensington Vision has something for you!

Kensington Vision

Community & Neighborhood Engagement

Published on 28 May 2007 in Links and Social Inclusion. 0 Comments

As we’re researching a range of services that are of relevance to the Youth Engagement community, we’ll be linking to them via this blog, in the hope that you find our research useful. We have recently been looking at national government initiatives in neighborhood policing, and community engagement.



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Respect
http://www.respect.gov.uk/
The Government’s new Respect Initiative including “Youth Specific” information for communities and community workers. “Respect is about central government, local agencies, local communities and ultimately every citizen working together to build a society in which we can respect one another – where anti-social behaviour is rare and tackled effectively, and communities can live in peace together.”


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Neighbourhood Policing
 http://www.neighbourhoodpolicing.co.uk/
“Neighbourhood Policing is based on local priorities identified by local people as the issues that need to be dealt with in their area and Police and partners will work together to tackle them.”


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Neighbourhood Renewal Unit
http://www.neighbourhood.gov.uk
“The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU) is responsible for overseeing the Government’s comprehensive neighbourhood renewal strategy. A strategy that responds to local circumstances rather than directs everything from Whitehall.”


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Youth Justice Board
http://www.youth-justice-board.gov.uk/
“The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB) is an executive non-departmental public body. Our 12 board members are appointed by the Secretary of State for Justice. The YJB oversees the youth justice system in England and Wales. We work to prevent offending and reoffending by children and young people under the age of 18, and to ensure that custody for them is safe, secure, and addresses the causes of their offending behaviour.”


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Safer School Partnership
http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/ete/ssp/
“Safer School Partnerships, where police are based in schools, take a joined-up approach to crime prevention, school safety, behaviour improvement and educational achievement.”

If you have more links you’d like us to include please let us know.

Positive Futures: Sports based Social Inclusion

Published on 23 May 2007 in Links, Publications and Social Inclusion. 1 Comment

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Commissioned by the UK Home Office, the Positive Futures Case Study Research Project focused on Positive Futures, a national sports based social inclusion programme.

“Positive Futures is a national sports based social inclusion programme aimed at marginalized 10-19 year olds in the most deprived neighbourhoods. Managed within the Home Office Drug Strategy Directorate and delivered locally by a range of agencies, including local authorities, charities, sports clubs and crime reduction agencies.”

The research is a great starting point for anyone wanting to find out more about sports and Social Inclusion.