Developing a bid for
funding...In 2000, Wiltshire and
Swindon successfully bid for £1.2M of
funding under the Government Pathfinder
scheme. The project was one of 25
chosen by the Government to develop
better, more accessible information and
services by local government to the
community, by harnessing the benefits
of new technology. A number of
projects were promoted under this
umbrella including £46k for the South
Wiltshire Community Web (SWCW)
project.
Community Planning &
the Community Web
One of the
themes of Wiltshire and Swindon
Pathfinder (WSP) was 'Improving
Community Access.' In order to develop
projects that met the needs of local
communities, local community plan teams
across the County were asked to submit
bids for funding. The project
submitted by the South Wiltshire
Community Planning Team was aimed at
giving local people, groups and
organisations the opportunity to build
and maintain web sites free of charge.
The idea for the South Wiltshire
Community Web originally developed from
a series of community workshops held
across South Wiltshire in 2001. It
became obvious that very many voluntary
groups, clubs and not for profit
organisations were already operating
very effectively throughout South
Wiltshire. Many of these groups
provide services and activities that
have a direct impact on the wellbeing
of the area. However, many local
people claimed to be unaware of the
services and community resources
available to them. The Community Web
will help to raise awareness of, and
improve access to these
services.
Involving the
Community
A detailed specification was
drawn up for the web site with the help
of a group of community volunteers –
including parish and District
councillors. The groups met to discuss
what sort of information should be
available on the community web, how the
site should be managed and policed and
agreed principles that would underpin
its operation - including sponsorship
and advertsiing.
Contracts &
Partnership
Cravenplan computers
based in Swallowcliffe, South Wiltshire
won the contract to develop the site in
Febraury 2002. The contract with the
Company ensured that the Company and
the Project Sponsor, Salisbury District
Council retained an equal stake in the
community web software - equally, each
had a stake in its success. The work
continued with final
beta testing completed in the early
Autumn using the Group of volunteers
that had initially helped set the
specification
The site finally went
live for final testing on Friday 11th
October prior to its official public
launch in November.