Supporting the local community.

Bristol Technology Volunteers is in full swing and we now have over 350 members in the group which is amazing, here is an update on what we have been up to.

Bristol Free School: We have 2 brilliant volunteers who are supporting Bristol Free School and helping their Y12 & Y13 students with their programming projects.

CodeBar Bristol: Continues to go from strength to strength we have a load of great students who have attended workshops and of course our brilliant coaches who support the group. We run our workshops the second Tuesday of each month which are hosted and sponsored by different tech companies in Bristol. Our next workshop is live, you can sign up here: https://codebar.io/admin/workshops/1203 We have ambitious to expand to 2 workshops a month and really pleased to have Miles Tincknell join myself and Jaycee to help us achieve this. Thank you to BJSS, Potato, SR2, Immersive Labs, WeareHalo & Squareworks for supporting CodeBar Bristol so far this year <3

Caring in Bristol: We have already had progress with Caring in Bristol thanks to Jeb Bushell who has kindly spent a day with them and has another day booked to spend some time with the users. 

And lastly we'd like to thank Good Energy who kindly donated some computers which we're no longer being used and we have passed these on to Moorland Bath Library & The Create Center. We are still looking for more equipment for others so if you or your company have any going spare they would be appreciated.

So where are we now ....We had another meet-up and joined forces with Tech4GoodSW and since have been inundated with requests from a few new partners including Unique Voice & St Werburgs, Motivation and Caring in Bristol are also in need of some assistance with their Homeless connect project. We've also got some exciting news that we have just signed up with a tech start-up who make Volunteer Management Easy. Ben who started the company is amazing and what they have created is brilliant. They have created a platform which streamlines and champions volunteers. Once this is live next week all volunteers will be able to log on through there and create a personal profile, all the opportunities will be published and you can apply to help. It delves into the data to find live insights into your activity and will allow the organisations to add feedback on your work etc - it's a really good tool and is going to take our little group to a whole new level which I'm really excited about. 

To keep things moving after getting some really good advice from one of our volunteers (thanks Sarah) I am keen to reach out to companies about what they are doing around their own CSR to see if any local businesses are interested in supporting these groups/charities. Here is a bit of info:

Technology Support for St Werburghs Centre, Bristol
1. We need to carry out a feasibility on room booking systems – whether we need to build a bespoke new one or use an existing one. The work would involve having a good look at our current Access database which is around 17 years old but has been updated to suit our needs over the years. It does all we need but it’s slow and lots of features could be automated / stream lined with a newer system.
2. We need a software for accessing our public computers which will time limit and also monitor the use, e.g. membership system with T&C for use that collects what people use it for and gathers feedback, if we help people with job applications, etc. Also collecting equalities data.
3. A new website – mobile friendly, with a simpler CMS but good interactive interface, professional and informative (no need for online room booking within it).
4. Online donations & tapping donations – we would like to set up a campaign to fund our ongoing services which we offer free for the locals. These include:
a) Raking and Baking – free cooking and gardening courses which run weekly and are free, accessible to people of all walks of life, all ages, abilities, backgrounds. Have been running them for 8 – 9 years and they are always oversubscribed, people who benefit often have special needs, are unemployed, suffered with a mental health condition, etc. etc. but places are not limited for any particular group so very inclusive and diverse. Evaluation of the project is available on request, should anybody want to help with fundraising for a particular project.
b) Easy PC – free weekly one to one computer sessions, used by older people, or people who need help applying for work, or publicising online their business ventures, which we host e.g. various community classes.
c) Stay & Play – a weekly playgroup for under 5s and their grown ups, a free flow space for local parents to come, play, meet others and chat about common issues, challenges of parenting, etc. refreshments and activities are provided by volunteers, no project worker is appointed at present due to lack of funds
d) Open Access and Signposting – these are our reception services. Our open access computers are used weekdays and weekends, often used by people to look for work and access services, access social networks, etc. this is a long term service we have been offering and we have extensive feedback and evaluation – it’s well loved and valued by the local communities

e) Tai Chi for over 50s – weekly class for all abilities, again it’s been running by the participants for many years now and is extremely valued by them.

We're busy, really busy and would love to continue to support our existing and new groups and charities local to the South West. If you think you can help yourself or if any companies would like to discuss supporting please get in touch with us on 0117 363 7400.