With the current movements and changes in the voluntary and community sector, where do organisations turn for free, personal guidance on developing appropriate structures, management and processes? This week ruralnet|uk launches a key new forum to complement its Experts Online service, which is just completing its first year pilot. Experts Online was the brainchild of ruralnet|uk CEO Simon Berry who started ruralnet|online more than five years ago.
Simon explains: "The internet has given us too much data: now, the most valuable information is sifted, personalised and interpreted, and it comes from a respected source. Nothing will replace the human expert, who can listen to your needs and apply specialist knowledge to your situation - the trick is to use new technology to deliver."
The Experts Online service does exactly that, and it is free to any subscriber to ruralnet|online and the 20 other networks(1), both rural and urban, who draw on its core services.
The new forum complements and brings together the current Experts Online areas, which include:
- Computers & Communications
- Funding Strategies
- ICT Funding
- Health, Safety & the Environment
- Legal Issues for the Community & Voluntary Sector
- Sustainable Transport
- Computer Security (viruses, spam etc)
The resident experts in the new Organisational Development forum are Elizabeth Gray-King, who specialises in materials development, partnership building and project development, and Jane Berry, a qualified Community Business Advisor. Both have spent the last 3 years delivering and refining workshops, development games, template materials and toolkits for organisations. These have ranged from UK Online centres to faith-based organisations.
A particular strength is helping organisations move to an appropriate mix of social enterprise and grant funding, blending four key income generation options: fund-raising, trading, partnership income and volunteer input, to create a sustainable portfolio.
As well as the tried and tested Question and Answer format, the Organisational Development forum offers a range of templates, based on sound business planning principles, to suit different stages and types of development. These are backed up by guidance from Experts in the other online forums that make up Experts Online.
(1) These include the Community Action Network, the Rural Stress Information Network, the Rural Inclusion Programme and many more.
Notes to editors
1. Experts Online is a free service for all networks and projects which belong to the Networks Online family of extranets. If you have any questions about this service please call support on 0845 130 5480 or email [email protected]
2. Networks Online is subscription based and largely self-funding; anyone can join for around £80 a year; whilst whole networks can claim discounts or additional support, or bundle services into their own membership package
3. Free or subsidised training and free support are provided in using the system, to ensure all voluntary and community workers can participate
4. Key members of Networks Online include ruralnet|uk, a rural regeneration charity: see www.ruralnetuk.org/index.htm. It established one of the first community computing centres in the country in the early 1990's and one of the earliest online communities, ruralnet|online, five years ago: see www.ruralnet.org.uk/home.shtml. ruralnet|online is now at the heart of over 20 online collaboration networks.
5. ruralnet|online is one of the first-established online communities, and has run successfully for five years. Current Experts can be seen via the website: see www.ruralnet.org.uk/home.shtml
6. Other networks which are members of Networks Online can be seen at www.networksonline.org.uk
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