New ICT Help Desk

Frustrated by ICT? Not sure where to go for advice?

Need to find a source of ICT Support you can trust?

Front Line Engagement through Regional Infrastructure (FERI) announce the launch of the Regional ICT Helpdesk, a free to call service for voluntary and community organisations in the Eastern Region that can provide you with:

• Initial ICT support and signposting to local trusted sources of 2nd line support
• Impartial advice and guidance on ICT infrastructure issues and signposting to experts
• who can help you develop your ICT more strategically through a range of services including ICT Health Checks
• Advice and guidance around purchasing of ICT hardware and software and signposting to suppliers that cater for the specific needs of the VCS

The FERI ICT Helpdesk the first step toward ICT solutions. It's only a phone call away, so call 0800 028 0085!

Lost Faith in your computer? Try the Faith East IT Helpline

Effective IT can free up your time, let you access information for your group and projects. It can make it easier to achieve what you really want. The wrong system or software, or lack of vital knowledge, can hold you back more than you think.

To support faith and inter faith groups who want to overcome these barriers, the EEFC jointly with i-TRUST — a social enterprise specialising in support for voluntary bodies — provides straightforward, personal advice on IT. Services include:

• PC health-check audits
• Day-to-day IT support via a helpline
• Planning for the future
• Training needs analysis

Call 0800 028 0085 or email ithelp@faitheast.org.uk

Know what groups like yours most need? Or have tips to share? Become part of our on-line reference group, helping the project provide what's most needed, by contacting EEFC

East of England Regional ICT Champion

This is the Regional ICT Champion’s website for the East of England and the Eastern Region Information Cluster (ERIC).

The website aims to keep the local voluntary sector up-to-date with what’s going on in Eastern Region and also takes a look at the national scene. In addition to information on training and funding, you will find news, gossip and upcoming events.

Website: www.icteast.org.uk

LASA Knowledgebase

Knowledgebase is designed to help community and voluntary sector organisations access the benefits of information technology. The knowledgebase is a comprehensive source of independent ICT information and advice. Topics include ICT Management (Strategy, planning, policies), Accessibility & Inclusion (Access for all), Internet, Email & Telephones (getting connected), Networks (Setting up, managing), Your Online Presence (Planning, design), Databases (Planning, implementing), Security (Antivirus, backup), Software (Applications, choosing, buying), Hardware (Equipment, choosing, buying) and Using Your Computer (Safe & responsible use, getting trained).

Website: www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk

Suppliers Directory

The Lasa Suppliers' Directory helps voluntary and community sector organisations find vetted suppliers of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) products and services.

Website: www.suppliersdirectory.org.uk

Computanews

Knowledgebase's FREE Computanews magazine comes out quarterly and is full of informative and entertaining articles, written in plain English and relevant to small voluntary organisations. Topics include:

• News of the latest IT developments in the voluntary sector
• How-to articles in plain English
• Reports from organisations on how they got ICT under control
• Analysis of strategy issues affecting voluntary sector ICT
• Software and book reviews

Website: www.lasa.org.uk/publications/computanews

Computanews Guides

The lasa Computanews Guides offer practical guidance on specific ICT issues and help answer common queries. Guides are available as a FREE PDF download and cover such issues as:

• Managing ICT
• ICT Security
• Data Protection
• Project Management

Website: www.lasa.org.uk/publications/computanews-guides

Using New Media to Reach New Audiences

The New Media Trust has produced a booklet entitled ‘How to use New Media’ that is available to download from http://digbig.com/4ydqs. The booklet shows how voluntary and community groups can use the following examples of new media in reaching new audiences:

• Social Networks - (www.facebook.com, www.bebo.com and www.myspace.com). Why not create a page for your organisation and as these networks are built around the idea of ‘friends’, you may find the ‘friends’ of your organisation increasing dramatically, especially amongst younger members of the community.
• Blogs - (such as www.wordpress.com, www.blogger.com and www.typepad.com). Blogs are online narratives that your organisation could use in highlighting or reporting on particular issues or events. They can also be interactive in that those reading your blog can comment on the entries you post, so you can really engage with your audience (that may include volunteers, users etc).
• Forums - (such as www.forumotion.com). Setting up a forum could really benefit your organisation in that they allow a discussion between users. Once set up they are cheap to run, encourage the exchange of ideas and build up an online community for your organisation.
• Flickr - (www.flickr.com). It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The Flickr site allows you and your supporters to upload images to the site where your organisation can create a Flickr group around your group’s issues. The images are then free to view and can be an effective means of promoting your cause.
• Wikis - (www.wikispaces.com). You may have heard of Wikipedia (a collaborative encyclopaedia that anyone can contribute to). Well Wikis essentially offer a giant whiteboard, where individuals from an organisation can add articles and pages and in the process amass lots of material that can be connected and made searchable. In essence the result will be an organisational encyclopaedia that everyone can get involved in and everyone can view.
• Online Video - (www.youtube.com). The growth in cheap video cameras, particularly cheap mobile phone cameras, the availability of free video-editing software and in particular the explosion in sites that allow you to store, share and then embed videos in other sites, has meant we can all make films that promote our organisations.
• Create your organisation’s own Social Network - (www.ning.com) - Ning allows you to create your very own social networking site for your organisation, so rather than rely on the existing structures of Facebook or My Space, you can customise your own social network to meet your group’s needs.
• Micro-Blogging - (http://twitter.com) - If your organisation wants to keep in constant touch with people, find out what they are up to, as well as tell them what you are doing, or if you need an immediate answer to a problem or issue, then a micro-blogging service might be what you need. Twitter lets you write brief text updates (of up to 140 characters) and broadcast them. People then sign up to follow your messages (or tweets as they are known) and you sign up to follow others.
• Create a Podcast - (http://audioboo.fm or http://audacity.sourceforge.net) - podcasting is the distribution of multimedia files over the internet for playback on a mobile device or a personal computer. Using the Audacity free software you can easily record and edit your organisation’s very own podcast.
• Mind Mapping - (http://freemind.sourceforge.net) - this free resource is really useful if you are brainstorming a potential project for your organisation, as the software allows you to map your ideas in a coherent manner and then a PDF document of your ‘Mind Map’ can be created and then shared.

Knowledgebase have detailed 'Determining your Social Network Needs' at: www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/socialnetworkingneeds

More useful resources at the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies at www.c4lpt.co.uk

ICT Resources

Accessibility

• Abilitynet - is a national charity helping disabled adults and children use computers and the internet by adapting and adjusting their technology. Our special expertise is ensuring that whatever your age, health condition, disability or situation you find exactly the right way to adapt or adjust your ICT to make it easier to use. Website: www.abilitynet.org.uk
  

Accountancy

• TASBooks Basic - is free accounting software designed to help organisations keep track of their cash flow. It shows you at-a-glance how your organisation stands - who owes you money and who you owe money to. The free software download is quick, simple and easy to set up. It's not a time-limited trial version, there's no obligation and it's yours to use for as long as you need. To download the free software and to find out more visit http://digbig.com/5badnb

Case Management

• AIMS - Is your organisation one that provides advice to clients and you need to record this work for future reference and for reporting purposes? Well, a free resource is now available that allows up to five users to enter into the case management contact database system AIMS, created by charity Lasa, that was originally for use by advice services and is now available to download from www.lasa.org.uk/aims

Payroll

• PAYROO - Free Accredited Payroll - 100% Internet.  Any organisation with less than 50 employees can use it free of charge. Take a look at their Website: www.payroo.com  for more details. In general, the package is accredited by the Inland Revenue (HMRC) and all payroll processes are run over the Internet. E-filing facilities are included. The payroll system is very user friendly and has more features than most commercially available professional versions. There is no catch, nor any hidden costs as the service is funded by advertisements on the websites pages.

Software

• Open Source as Alternative (OSALT) - Open Source software is free to use and provides an alternative to commercial software. Website: www.osalt.com
• Charity Technology Exchange (CTX) - this website enables your organisation to get low cost software from suppliers such as Microsoft. Website: www.ctxchange.org

Volunteers

• IT4Communities - A national IT volunteering programme that helps charities and community/voluntary groups to find volunteers to help with their IT needs. Website: www.it4communities.org.uk

Websites

• Get British Business Online (GBBO) - is a joint initiative by Google, Enterprise UK, BT, e-skills UK and many other partners to help small businesses create their first website and help them understand the opportunities offered by the Internet. They have a target of helping 100,000 UK organisations get their first website easily and for FREE by the end of 2010. The creation and hosting of your website will be free forever; your .co.uk web address is free for two years, then a few pounds every two years beyond this. Charities will be given access to .org.uk addresses soon. Website: www.gbbo.co.uk.  
• BT Community Web Kit - is a new venture from BT and replaces the Community Website Builder Service that BT and Recipero offered previously. In just a few simple steps you can have an easy-to-build web site to help promote your charity or community group. It's a straightforward to set-up and maintain. And once it's up-and-running, it provides an easy way to publicise your group and stay in touch with people. Best of all, it's free. Website: www.btck.co.uk
• Mr Site - if you want to create a cheap and professional looking website check out Mr. Site. Costs range from £19.99 to £99.99. Website: www.mrsite.org