Communities @One Reaches £6million Milestone
19 Dec 2007
Communities @One Reaches £6million Milestone Over 200 voluntary and community groups across Wales have benefited from over £6 million of funding as part of the Welsh Assembly Government’s digital inclusion initiative, Communities @One, Deputy Minister for Regeneration Leighton Andrews announced today.
The Deputy Minister made the announcement at an event to officially launch the new Communities @One website (www.communitiesatone.org) which has been set up to offer advice and information to digital inclusion projects funded through the Communities @One scheme.
Communities @One was launched in January 2006 and is administered by the Wales Co-operative Centre on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government. The initiative helps people in the most disadvantaged communities in Wales get access to new technologies, ultimately contributing towards community regeneration through improving skills and knowledge.
The programme has helped to fund projects ranging from setting up of community websites, digital story-telling projects that build a variety of skills and increase community spirit to community IT suites running courses in genealogy, local history, numeracy and literacy for the whole community.
Launching the website at Merit, a project funded by Communities @One, based on the Gurnos estate in Merthyr Tydfil, Leighton Andrews said: “Modern technologies can help transform people’s lives. Communities @One is about breaking down the social and economic barriers that can prevent some people from accessing technology.
“We want to encourage communities across Wales to work out their own solutions for their area - whether it´s relating the history of their community through digital storytelling, organising groups online, learning about email, creating websites or other ideas which are inclusive and improve skills and knowledge.”
“Merit and its neighbouring project Megabytes have received over £98,000 between them. Both are excellent examples of what we want to achieve through the Communities @One initiative which is to encourage community groups and voluntary sector organisations in the most disadvantaged areas of Wales to engage with technologies in ways that are directly relevant to people’s lives.”
In the case of Merit, Communities @One has been able to fund an ICT Development Worker who manages and supports the running of classes including computer rebuilding and maintenance, digital photography as well as an internet drop in facility.
Leighton Andrews added: “Through Communities @One, many more people are now imparting their new-found skills, enthusiasm and confidence on others in their communities, sparking a chain reaction that could be felt in Wales for years to come.”
Simon Harris, Chief Executive of the Wales Co-operative Centre said: “The number of projects that have applied for funding is astounding, exceeding our expectations and reflects the huge appetite for learning about new technologies in the communities across Wales. Communities @One has enabled people in the areas of Wales that could benefit most to engage with technology, showing them the benefits of the online world which is now open to them.”
Wales Co-operative Centre, Llandaff Court, Fairwater Road, Cardiff, CF5 2XP
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