Getting your community group on the web

For all you community groups....

If you are in any way interested in the internet then you may well at some point of had a webpage for yourself. This page might of had a small amount on information about yourself, and then you probably forgot all about it, as lets face it, nobody probably read it.

This can change when it is a website for a community group. Straight away you have a larger user base of interested people, so it makes the effort of having a site more worthwhile. Then there is the idea of having a web presence, as so many groups and organisations now have. The site does not have to be regularly updated either, it can just be one or two pages, giving information to those interested (Aims & Objectives, Mission statement, Policies, Committee Members, etc.). It can also be a whole lot more.

But how do you get your group onto the internet, there are so many different web hosting providers out there for personal use, some of which are free.

But do you really want your community group to have a web address of (for example)
www.(provider).com/homepages/yourorganisationhere we can see how that would be a little bit offputting to the potential user of your site. And then the site (because it is free) will probably be supported by advertising (sometimes with those dreaded 'pop-up' windows).

This is where SCVS has come to the rescue. There is a funding information sheet on ICT and the Internet that is available from the Development Team at SCVS which gives information about orgaisations which offers free webspace to community groups. So why not click on the link for the SCVS website on the side of this page or email me at gareth_roberts@scvs.org.uk and I will be more than willing to forward you the information. You will still need to do some research yourself, deciding which provider is the best for your group but at least some of the leg work had been done for you.