Opportunities of the Month

Opportunities are listed on this page because we've recently talked with the charity and they've told us that they are desperate for a volunteer to help them. Are you that volunteer?

If you contact the charity and they tell you that someone else has recently started work on the opportunity please ask them to contact info@it4communities.org.uk so that we can assist them in assigning that volunteer to the opportunity. Once a volunteer has been assigned the opportunity will be automatically removed from the iT4C website.

For these and more volunteer opportunities sign-in to your account and "Search for Opportunities". Alternatively click on the link on the opportunity name below to go directly to the opportunity you're interested in.

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Opportunity Name: Help Recruit an IT Support Worker
Skill Type: Consultancy
Region: South East
Locality: Maidstone
Postcode: ME15
Virtual: No

Description: This charity provides comprehensive rehabilitation and support services to blind and visually impaired people across Kent and adjoining areas of London. They also provide advice and training to individuals and organisations. They want to recruit a full-time IT resource worker to be responsible for computer and network installation and support, and possibly website maintenance too. Your help is needed with creating the job description and helping to get the advertising right. They would prefer someone who can be part of the interviewing panel, and/or provide a written test or questions and answers. They would appreciate help with induction too.

Opportunity Name: Review of network
Skill Type: Technical Support
Region: South East
Locality: St Albans
Postcode: AL1
Virtual: No

Description: This low cost/free counselling, support & advice organisation for the local community requires a Volunteer to ensure that their essential network runs smoothly. Their appointments system and accounts (Quickbooks) are computer based. To enable them to feel confident that these systems are robust they would like someone with network admin experience to help implement a back up system, advise about security and updates and help plan for their next funding. In the longer term they would like to offer remote access to certain systems for their trustees and would like a report about the best way to safely approach this. A St Albans based (or nearby) volunteer would be ideal as they would like someone who would be happy to visit as an when they experience problems (this is not frequent, once a month maximum).

Opportunity Name: Creation of Flash animation [This is a short task]
Skill Type: Creative Design
Region: London
Locality: London
Postcode: N1
Virtual: No

Description: A big international development charity working for justice and the eradication of poverty, with offices in Islington, London, is looking for a flash animator to create a 30 second animation (either a game or a story) for an email viral marketing campaign. They envisage a face-to-face briefing session with discussion of ideas, and want you to take the illustrations already created and turn them into a entertaining animation or a game, which will work effectively as a viral campaign. The aim of the animation will be to raise awareness on the threat of Terminator technology, the genetic modification of plants to make them produce sterile seeds, to force farmers to buy new seeds every year. They have Flash MX software installed but don't know how to use it, so you're free to use different software if you prefer. They expect the animator to do most of the work remotely.

Opportunity Name: Inspiring teens to create web media
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: Hackney
Postcode: N1
Virtual: No

Description: This charity aims to provide entry to employment for 16-20 year old teenagers. They need an inspiring professional who can transfer basic skills in areas from video editing to website design and from animation to radio production. The charity doesn't expect to find one person to fulfil all of this. The sessions are weekdays (or half days) - even just one session on a simple topic would be great. This is an opportunity for a volunteer with web/media skills to transmit enthusiasm to keen teenagers. The charity may require a CRB check so ask when contacting them

Opportunity Name: Design skills and ideas for interactive features required
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: Brent
Postcode: NW10
Virtual: No

Description: This charity provides services for homeless people in the Brent area. Services include housing advice, counselling, advice on health issues and drop-in facilities. They have a very successful website which was developed by a previous iT4C volunteer. However, they are now looking to add more interactive features to the site to reflect the positive changes that are taking place in the organisation. They are currently re-branding and they'd like to redesign the site to take that into account. They are looking for a volunteer who can work with the IT manager to identify features such as forums, blogs, etc. which could be added to the site. They want the best possible site and if necessary they are happy to change the technology on which the site is based although they wish to stay with a UNIX/LINUX host.. This is an opportunity for a volunteer to help a charity make good use of the latest in web technologies.

Opportunity Name: Filemaker Pro advice and fixes
Skill Type: Database
Region: London
Locality: Brent
Postcode: W9
Virtual: No

Description: This charity is a performing arts organisation aimed at young people from 6 to 26. They operate workshops and classes in dance, drama and music and also do outreach work in local schools and work with young people with learning difficulties. They also hire out their facilities to the public and to other charitable organisations. The charity has two databases using Filemaker Pro 6. They are experiencing problems with both of them and would like a volunteer to give some expert advice. The priority is the contact management database. This has started losing data for no obvious reason and they aren't able to reliably run queries and get consistent results. The believe that some problems may be caused by trying to use the database on multiple PCs and by having the two databases linked. Their priority is to get the contacts database working reliably on a single PC. If necessary they have a small budget for upgrades, etc.

Opportunity Name: Website & CMS for youth group
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: Camden
Postcode: W1T
Virtual: Yes

Description: A website project for a community based youth action project using sports and youth work to engage young people and support them in developing projects which benefit the community and improve relationships between people from different ethnic and age groups throughout the London Borough of Camden The group has just purchased a domain and needs an initial simple website which rapidly become self propelled by the young people themselves. This is a project for a volunteer enthusiastic about working with young people in central London who can meet with the highly enthusiastic staff member who is driving this and then work with him and his group of young people to produce a website and CMS which can then be run by the young people under the supervision of the staff member. There may be scope for a continued involvement (more interactive site, newsletter, etc).

Opportunity Name: Interactive Website Development - Web 2.0
Skill Type: Programming
Region: London
Locality: Hackney
Postcode: E8
Virtual: Yes

Description: This arts organisation supports and promotes contemporary and historical artists' moving image work is looking for a Web2.0 enthusiast with MySQL, PHP, Cocoon and Ajax programming experience. They currently have an online presence, however they would like it upgraded to incorporate Web2.0 functionality. Currently they have a member of staff with some knowledge, but would benefit greatly from guidance from an experienced programmer. This project can be done remotely with close collaboration with a member of staff.

Opportunity Name: Website - Design & Build - Lambeth or Remote
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: Lambeth
Postcode: SW12
Virtual: No

Description: This community led project has raised GBP500,000 towards a GBP600,000 community centre containing a nursery and adult education facilities. It will replace a building that has been derelict for 34 years and is due to open in March 2008. They need a volunteer to redesign the current website as the project nears realisation and get it ready for the marketing of the centre.. The support for this ambitious and innovative project is high profile and this would be a great opportunity to show your skills as a creator of an innovative site that can act as a key role in the fundraising campaign and then be an ongoing, integral part of the project, representing and serving the community online. The website must have the capability to provide for online donation, showcase the project and provide news and updates as the centre progresses through the building phase . However, we would also like an online directory of services and provide information and booking options for the various services available. (for the nursery, drop in advice sessions etc) hence this should be part of the website technical specification from the outset. The group are dedicated volunteers who have already achieved a great deal. They are very keen to be able to work with a professional web developer on this project. They are happy to work with a remote volunteer.

Opportunity Name: Initial website for children and young people's charity
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: CRICKLEWOOD
Postcode: NW2
Virtual: Yes

Description: This London charity has a programme for children and young people including disabled and asylum seekers. Its aim is fighting poverty and sickness through education. They provide training in a wide range of subjects, including music and IT, and general advice to young people. They need an initial website. They have registered a domain and have a proposed template. The main contact is an IT professional but he needs help with design of look and structure. Initially they need an information and news site with simple CMS but would aim to build on this to provide more complex services later. This is a project for a volunteer to simply help to get this going but this could also build into a long term relationship with the organisation

Opportunity Name: Simple brochure-type website for childcare charity
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: Redbridge
Postcode: rm6
Virtual: No

Description: This Chadwell Heath pre-school childcare charity needs a website to help them gain more visibility, so that people find out where they are, and that they exist, and attract more parents to use their services. The charity has a good idea of what they want, however they'll need guidance about what they can reasonably expect to update after you've finished. You'll need to: define the website content and structure in detail, explore whether they want to use domain based email, assist them in choosing and registering a domain name, guide them in signing up for suitable hosting, build the website, write notes about updating the website ( eg for a new newsletter) and train them, provide usercodes and passwords for access.

Opportunity Name: E-commerce improvements to website
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: London
Postcode: E17
Virtual: No

Description: This small Walthamstow charity supports disadvantaged people in Ethiopia with their health, education and development needs. They're looking for someone to add functionality to their website, to train them to use FTP and how to make future changes to the website. The charity needs a page to display the goods they sell (a T-shirt and a DVD), and to accept payment and donations via PayPal. They want a brochure-type page to describe the DVD and artistes in more detail, and perhaps to allow visitors to play a sample of music or look at a short video. They're also looking for a form to accept online standing orders. You'll need to: define the improvements in more detail, assist them in registering with PayPal, build the new pages, write notes about updating the website and train them.

Opportunity Name: Develop Access database with security
Skill Type: Database
Region: London
Locality:
Postcode: CR0
Virtual: No

Description: This charity provides information and support to women and girls who have been raped or sexually abused. They operate a confidential help line and offer advocacy and face-to-face counselling. They would like a volunteer to develop an Access database for them. The database will record information about their clients and the services they have used. The charity has already done a lot of preparation work and has identified the information they need to store and the reports which they need to produce. Monthly statistical reports are required for funders and other reports will be used internally to help manage their work. The information to be stored is sensitive and security is very important. The database will be shared on a peer-to-peer network and at least one person from each of four departments will require access. Note that the initial contact will be with a member of staff at the local volunteer bureau who will facilitate the project.

Opportunity Name: Redesign of frames-based website and simple SEO skills
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: London
Postcode: SW1W
Virtual: No

Description: This small charity provides scholarships to nurses and midwives to help them advance their studies. This is an interesting opportunity to redesign a website and flex your SEO skills too. Their existing frames-based website is only partly accessible. They need you to redesign it so that it doesn't use frames, incorporates CSS, and is more accessible. They want to be able to maintain their website so also need you to implement a CMS, and train them on using the CMS to update content, and add new Scholars' reports. They'll need advice on choosing useful titles for their webpages too. They also need help in getting and interpreting simple website statistics, or if these aren't provided by their host, in using external analytics, for example, Google.

Opportunity Name: Website for disabled refugee charity
Skill Type: Website
Region: London
Locality: LONDON
Postcode: E12
Virtual: Yes

Description: This small charity supports disabled and housebound refugees. It provides outreach services to help with health, housing welfare, education and translation. The charity also campaigns for the disabled and works with Greener London and Safer Neighbourhoods The charity is entirely volunteer driven and its main champion is himself disabled so email is preferred for initial contact although his mobile is also usable. He has already placed some basic information on the web but he needs a fully professional website design. He is ready to maintain the site once a suitable simple CMS is available. The charity also needs a striking logo but this is less urgent

Opportunity Name: New brochure-type website
Skill Type: Website
Region: South West
Locality: Wiltshire
Postcode: SN9
Virtual: No

Description: This small rural charity supports, advises and gives information to unpaid family carers, i.e. people that look after family members who cannot manage on their own due to an illness or disability. They have specialist staff to assist carers with different problems. They're looking for someone to build them a mainly brochure-type website to provide staff details, articles, links, lots of pictures and logos, a contact form, and a registration form, and from which visitors can download newsletters. They want to have site statistics too. There's also a hosted online forum that they'll want to link into. The website needs to be accessible. They need to be able to update the website after you've gone, so they'll need an appropriate CMS. They have a good idea of what they want, however they'll need guidance on the layout and structure. It's possible that their existing computer maintenance company provides hosting, and they would like you to investigate and see whether it's suitable, or else guide them in signing up for suitable hosting.You'll need to: define the website content and structure in detail, assist them in choosing and registering a domain name, build the website, implement a CMS, and train them in its use, provide usercodes and passwords for access

Opportunity Name: Brochure-type website update and easy to use CMS
Skill Type: Website
Region: East of England
Locality: Southend on Sea
Postcode: SS1
Virtual: No

Description: This childcare charity located in Southend-on-Sea, Essex would like their website redesigned to reflect a more modern image, new content added, and to be able to offer annual reports and newsletters for download. Also they want to be able to maintain it themselves in future, so a simple CMS would be useful. You'll need to: define the website content and structure in more detail, explore whether a simple CMS would be useful, and if so, implement it, build the website, write notes about updating the website and provide training.

Opportunity Name: Excel Financial Training
Skill Type: Training
Region: East of England
Locality: Cheshunt
Postcode: EN8
Virtual: No

Description: This local depression support group has grown and now needs to shows good financial governance. The coordinator needs spreadsheets developing and training in using them. The group has access to local training on financial management of the volunteer needs this. An opportunity for an experienced spreadsheet practitioner to help this group set up a fully professional financial system ,give the coordinator the tools to run the organisation smoothly and add to their own knowledge of voluntary sector finances and management

Opportunity Name: Smarter remote working
Skill Type: Advice
Region: East of England
Locality: Chelmsford
Postcode: CM2
Virtual: No

Description: This charity provides support to homeless people in Chelmsford and central Essex. They operate a night shelter providing short-term support. They also have premises where people can live independently for a while before moving into longer-term facilities. They plan to open a day care facility in the near future to complement their night time services. Many of their staff work regularly from home using their personal Internet connections from a variety of providers.They would appreciate some independent advice on how best to manage this remote working. Are there tools available which would help them work smarter and more efficiently?

Opportunity Name: Simple website with database
Skill Type: Website
Region: East Midlands
Locality: Milton Keynes
Postcode: MK8
Virtual: No

Description: This charity launched in late 2006 and is volunteer-only at the moment. Their aim is empowering the poorest people in developing countries so that they can work themselves out of poverty. Their first project is an IT Training Centre in Nigeria especially encouraging disabled people to learn. One of their long-term volunteers has some IT knowledge and is building upon it but he needs help to develop an initial website which should attract more people to get involved in the project. They need to register supporters on line and, longer term, integrate this with a more general database. This is a project for a volunteer with website and database knowledge who can work with this long-term volunteer to build the initial website and help him to become self sufficient in maintaining and extending it as his IT knowledge grows.

Opportunity Name: Network Setup in Kenyan Schools
Skill Type: Network
Region: North West
Locality: Buxton
Postcode: SK17
Virtual: No

Description: Here's a really interesting and challenging opportunity to help schools develop IT skills and capabilities for pupils and teachers in a developing country. This fairly new Derbyshire charity has installed electricity and set up one-roomed computer labs in 8 schools providing education to 5 to 16 year olds in the Mombasa region of Kenya. 2 teachers in each school have received certified ICT training. The charity has bought and installed new network ready PCs running XP, which run Office 2003, and a range of software linked to the Kenyan syllabus and now want to network the computers inside the labs to enhance their capabilities and to ease the teaching burden. One of the computer labs has 15 PCs, 6 other schools' computer labs each have 10 PCs, and they're working on raising money to equip a lab in the remaining school. Ethernet networking equipment and cabling (specification from the charity on request) has been donated by a UK company, but no software or servers have yet been obtained, though they have funds for this. They're looking for a volunteer to a) advise as soon as possible what networking software is needed, identify other equipment needed, and guide the charity in buying it for the computer labs you are going to network. b) fly out to Kenya in January or May 2008, stay in a hotel, and set up server(s), install cabling, and network one or more computer labs. There are local resources who could help with some of the work however you would need to train and supervise them, and check their work. c) provide training to locals (in English) on looking after the network and general maintenance tasks and backup. The charity can't afford to pay your flight or hotel expenses so expect you to bear these yourself (they estimate ?500 to ?800 for flights and 2 weeks accommodation) but would advise you on what's needed and exact dates. To do all 7 schools will probably take more than 1 volunteer, so if you can manage only enough time to do 1 school, please still contact them.

Opportunity Name: Small accessible website
Skill Type: Website
Region: Remote
Locality: Colchester
Postcode: CO4
Virtual: No

Description: This charity is a Colchester-based social club for adults with learning difficulties. Part of a UK-wide network they are one of the largest clubs in the country. Catering for people from 18-80 they organise a wide range of social events including theatre visits, residential holidays, etc. Open two evenings a week they have more than 150 people taking part in drama groups, arts and crafts activities and a regular disco. With more and more people turning to the Internet rather than the Yellow Pages the charity would like a website to showcase their services. They would like the site to appeal to users of their club and include details of events and activities with photos. They imagine that the site will be quite small and one of their trustees will be happy to keep the site up-to-date if the volunteer can give training. The trustees have some ideas for the site but would be guided by the volunteer. The site should be attractive to their target audience and the volunteer will need to advise on accessibility guidelines as well as domain name registration and hosting. The charity feels it would be useful for the volunteer to attend one of their social evenings to get a feel for the sort of things they do.