Evolve SouthWest

Apply yourselves is a free software application from funder finder. 

Dowload the free software here: Apply Yourselves

The Apply Yourselves software helps you write effective funding applications. You can use it to draft a letter or proposal to funders. As you put together your proposal, click on buttons and text to get advice about what should be included and what funders will expect to see.

There are also some fantastic articles on the ICT Hub knowledgebase that can point you in the right direction:

Project Management - Funding applications
Writing a Winning Grant Proposal

Writing a brief for a website

An absolute must for anyone wanting a new website or redesigning their current website. A step by step process which will enable you to think about and plan all aspects of your website so that you get the site that you want, not the site that your web designer thinks you want.

The VCS (Voluntary and Community Sector) is full of handy acronyms, however if you don’t know what they mean they can drive you mad!  The world of ICT (information and Communications Technology) is no different with the added problem that even if a term is not an acronym there still is a fair chance of still not understanding what on earth it means!  So if you want to know what terms such as ADSL, firewall and Java mean then why not visit the ICT Hub Glossary at:

 http://www.icthubknowledgebase.org.uk/index.php?id=glossary

If you still can’t find your answer you can always ask them to add it to the list. 

If you’re a UK registered charity you can receive free advertsing on Google, one of the world’s most popular search engines. For example, type in a word like ‘homeless’ into Google (www.google.co.uk) and you’ll see mainly charity adverts come up.
Simply fill out a form, then wait and you’ll get an invitation to set up a free account.
This is a fantastic opportunity to get your charity’s website noticed or to publicise a new service.

The service also gives you guidelines and tips on how to best optimise your advertisements results.

Visit the google grants webpage at http://www.google.co.uk/grants/ for more information

Julie Harris, Chief Executive at COSMIC, will be leading in the role of Regional Champion in the South West and is looking forward to being able to increase the capacity of the sector in making effective use of ICT. As Julie says “its all about making sure that technology increases and improves the services and experiences of the people we aim to work for - whether that’s someone accessing support from a charity, or getting advice from a local community group, or someone visiting the local volunteer centre to help them make the most of the time they can offer. There is such potential still to be grasped in making the most of ICT and I am really looking forward to giving this an extra push in this new role.”

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We are delighted to be involved with the Somerset Broadplaces scheme helping to develop the use of broadband in rural community spaces.

This scheme is run by Community Council for Somerset (CCS) and is headed up by Rachel Smith. Simon Duncan from Evolve is on the steering group and aims to help the village halls and other community spaces involved in the scheme to make the most of their broadband connections.

The scheme pilot has been running with 4 village halls - Nunney, Winsham, Berrow and Ilton - and will be coming to a successful conclusion shortly. The main project is now being rolled out across Somerset with a further 10 community spaces benefiting from it. Each community space will receive a broadband connection, a computer desktop, a printer and a projector.

For further information on the scheme or to get involved please go to the website for the Community Council for Somerset at www.somersetrcc.org.uk