Bristol Wireless

When and why did you start up?

Bristol Wireless began in 2001 as the Easton Community Local Area Network (CLAN) when a group of local "geeks" realised it was possible to share out the broadband connection being installed at the Easton Community Centre (ECC) to everyone in the surrounding homes and create a "virtual community centre". We also realised that it was possible to use free software and recycled discarded equipment to build this network and get local people using it. We felt that although the "digital divide" was recognised as a problem in deprived communities, apart from the UKonline initiatives, little was being done to address it. The growth in access to information, services, commerce and new forms of communication was enriching peoples lives in many ways and yet large groups of people were being excluded through poverty, education and lack of opportunity. With the knowledge & skills we shared we hoped to be able to
really address that divide.

How many staff do you have?

We have some paid tutors who deliver our training courses and manage the open access sessions at ECC and St Werburghs Community Centre on a sessional basis, but the vast majority of our work is done by voluntary effort.

How do volunteers get involved and what training and support are they offered?

We have a core of about 15 volunteers who have been involved for some time (2 years plus), who do a variety of tasks, from network management and development, fundraising, manage website, answer phones, answer the email, induct new volunteers, support tutors and open access, sit on the management committee, research new services and loads more.

In addition we run new volunteer sessions on Wednesdays and Fridays where we familiarise people with the Linux Operating system and teach them how to fix discarded computers. We have a waiting list, and some of our volunteers have stayed around to pass on their skills to new people, while others have taken the skills learned onto paid employment.

What have been your successes in the last year?

We've had lots of technical successes, but we've also been very pleased with our people projects. Free computers and internet access to all Year One families in a local school, and computer suites installed in the communal living rooms in older peoples sheltered accomodation in particular. We have also developed a suite of laptops that we can take anywhere and set up as a "mobile internet
cafe" for events and festivals.

What challenges are you facing as an organisation?

Demand for our services and expertise is growing quite rapidly and occasionally we feel we have let people down by not fully delivering (or taking a long time to complete) projects. We are trying to learn how to manage expectation and not make unrealistic commitments but it is a difficult learning experience. A lot of hard work is going into creating a sustainable development strategy and business plan. Working with statutory bodies is also a major new phase in our work, challenging because they expect a much greater level of professionalism than we perhaps have expected of ourselves in the past. Although some geeks might consider themselves a minority, we definitely have a diversity issue which we are trying to address.

What ICT challenges do you think face the voluntary & community sector at the moment?

It's really important that the voluntary sector start taking a serious look at using Open Source software as an alternative to the Windows addiction that has grown up in just the last 10 years.

Who are your funders?

We've had funding from Quartet's Community Fund and the EU (Vivaldi) for equipment, and UKOnline funding for training.

If you had more funds, how would you use it?

We would employ some core staff, a volunteer co-ordinator and a technical manager in the first instance.

What do you get from of being a member of Voscur?

We get the opportunity to inform other Voscur members about what we do, and we are getting useful support around Performance Improvement from the C3 project.

How can people get in contact you?

You can visit our website www.bristolwireless.net where you can click on "chat" to join us in our chatroom where there are always Bristol wireless volunteers available to answer your questions. Or Tel: 0845 8620110, Email: info@bristolwireless.net

If your group would like to be profiled in a future Voscur newsletter or on our website, please contact Sophie Mellor at the Voscur office Tel. 909 9949, or email: sophie@voscur.org