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IT Can Help NEWSLETTER January 2001

Here are some notes from our last committee meeting to let you know what is happening in IT Can Help at the moment.

Date for your diary -

Saturday 30 June or Saturday 7 July National Volunteers meeting, we held one last year at Warwick, and we plan to have another one this year.

Abbreviations SG - steering group CC -county controller AO - area organiser

I.T.-CAN-HELP STEERING GROUP MEETING January 2001

Minutes of the Steering Group (SG) meeting held on Wednesday 10 January at Carnival Hall, Basingstoke. Present: Ken Stoner, Larry Peer, Tom Mangan, Bob Jamieson, Sylvia Watson, Robert Bates John Steadman, Bob Twitchin. Apologies: Andres Crespo In attendance: Margaret Pickering

NATIONAL VOLUNTEER MEETING - Agreed to hold event on Saturday 30 June or Saturday 7 July. The date will depend on venue availability. Tom will check if IBM, Warwick or London is available. Bob T will find out whether a BT venue in London is possible. Bob J agreed to organise the event. Suggested topics included: Online ITCH Website; Video of volunteer assisting a client; Handling difficult clients What topics would you like to have for the meeting? Email ideas to Sylvia [email protected].
New Leaflet
Have you seen our new leaflet? Please let us know what you think of it. The leaflet is now complete. Robert has emailed all AOs and CCs a copy. Agreed not to bulk print unless a need is found.
Activity Level CCs and AOs - Please send in your quarterly summary of work you have done to Bob Twitchen for the period Oct-Dec 200. Please let us know how we can help, if you find it impossible to do.
Bob Twitchen will contact people who have not sent in any response. For those that still do not respond Larry/Tom/Robert/John are available to assist in finding out whether the people who are not responding to email need further support or prefer to be taken off list. .
Website The website at www.itcanhelp.org.uk continues to develop.
Robert, Tom and Andres to have virtual meeting to discuss: The revamping of the ‘about ITCH’ section to reflect the new ITCH leaflet. Accessibility of the site for disabled people New mail server Effective method of updating files (including preview files)

2. FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS OF ITCH PROPOSAL (KEN’S EMAIL 2/1/01)
2.1 Area Organisers Robert agreed to be care-taker AO for Central UK. Tom to send out applications to Reach for North East AO, Northern Ireland AO and Central AO. Tom has already submitted application for South East AO. (Reach is an organisation that finds voluntary work for retired people). Agreed that it’s important to involve AOs. Aim for two AO meetings a year. The first meeting will be part of the SG meeting in March. Tom to organise.
2.2 County Controllers Tom has put an application into Reach for a CC for Hereford and Worcester counties. This was in response to request from Brian Barr, West UK AO. Ken to ask Derek Knowles, South West AO, if he can find a replacement for Wiltshire. Agreed to wait until a South East AO is appointed before proactively searching for Oxford CC. .
2.3 New Coverage Map The SG agreed that Robert’s map is a valuable tool. Robert agreed to keep map updated on Website.


4. FINANCE
4.1 Accounts
Larry reported: - Expenditure to date: approx. £2,700 Approx. £460 available from last year’s National Volunteer meeting. It has been agreed that this money is to pay the BCS-DG fundraiser, Loiuse Englefield, to extend her time on behalf of ITCH. We still have lots of money spare, PLEASE apply to get your travel costs etc repaid!

4.2 Insurance Larry reported that: -The insurance cost for this year is £289 (£262 last year). -Our cover is a general, almost blanket, indemnity for our volunteers ("employees") and for our clients. It does not cover "Professional indemnity" as that is very expensive and most importantly it does not cover "accidental erasure". We have £1 million cover for complete accidents, but with a £250 excess.

Fundraising Louise Englefield is a professional fundraiser, and is presently applying to the Esmee Fairbairn trust. .
.
PC DONATIONS
The SG agreed that in principle ITCH does not handle hardware or software donations from organisations. It will refer any offers to established computer refurbishment organisations that work in the voluntary sector, such as Paul Harris (www.cftd.co.uk). However, it is down to individual CCs whether they wish to accept donated computer equipment and set them up for a client.
7. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
7.1 WAACIS WAACIS is a charity that teaches disabled people how to use the internet (www.waacis.org.uk). Ken to make contact with WACCIS. If anyone comes across any other relevant organisations please inform Robert and he’ll update appropriate documentation.
7.2 Client Visit Alison Crerar sent a note about an unusual client visit (refer to appendix B). Please can everyone read it and send comments to Sylvia so we can discuss this subject more fully. It was suggested that ‘difficult client visits’ may be a topic for discussion at the National Volunteer Meeting.

APPENDIX A PARTNERCARE PROJECT SCOPING Official Name of Charity: ITCANHELP Chairperson contact Name: Ken Stoner Job Title: Project Leader (he does not use the telephone due to his disability). Charity project contact Name: Joanna Greenwell Job Title: HAFAD Computer Access Project Co-ordinator Tele No: 020 7610 6078 E-Mail: [email protected] Web-site: www.hafad.org.uk Address of Charity: Greswell Centre Greswell Street London SW6 6PX Description of Scope of PartnerCare Event/Activity and the purpose of the project: ITCANHELP is a national charity that provides a free computing fixing service to disabled people in their homes around the country. Many areas of England are already covered but additional areas need the service. ITCANHELP needs funds to keep running as well as additional volunteers to visit disabled people in their homes and fix their computers. There is a volunteer network already in place but additional volunteers are always welcome. Requirements for PartnerCare volunteers ideally with an estimate minimum amount of volunteers and man days effort required: Volunteers – this is usually not more than one evening a month but depends on the area and how many volunteers are already in place. Benefit to Charity: To enable ITCANHELP to keep providing a free computer fixing service for disabled people in their homes around the country and to set up the service in areas not already covered i.e., West London. Any equipment needs: No Any extra funds required? - if so for what? £3000 to keep ITCANHELP running nationally and to set-up new ITCANHELP networks. Please see attached information about ITCANHELP and their website. Will the chairperson of the Charity be able to attend CW functions to help promote fund raising and attract volunteers. Yes, or if unable to due to health problems a member of the steering group can attend or myself (Joanna Greenwell) APPENDIX B Client Visit This brief report raises ethical concerns about the nature of what we might be called upon to do for clients. It also sensitised me to possible safety issues associated with volunteers, especially lone females, visiting male clients. In this case the client was a 40 year old single man with mild learning difficulties, living with his parents. His request for help had been about problems using e-mail and needing help with using is his screen top camera. When I called, the client was alone in the house. His computer was in his bedroom. It became quickly apparent that this gentleman was desperate to find a female partner. He felt unable to mix socially with 'normal' people in social settings and wanted me to help him explore chat groups and adult meeting places on-line where he might contact suitable friends. He wanted help taking a flattering picture of himself to post on the www and this was accomplished quickly. The problems he was having were in understanding the on-screen dialogues associated with joining chat groups and defining the characteristics of his preferred partner. I'm certain that this is a genuine case of social isolation caused by disability, and a plea for technology to help this man build a happy independent life. It was interesting to see the obstacles from his point of view. He couldn't read the questionnaires very well (I had to read and explain terms like 'ethnicity' and 'caucasian' and tease out the difference between minding whether a partner already had children and whether the client eventually wanted children himself!). I am not well versed in use of on-line forums, so was not the best person to help, but I confess I did have reservations about getting too involved in this, because I am aware that we could quickly have found ourselves viewing sexually explicit exchanges - which I don't think the client was seeking and I certainly would not have been happy with. I certainly felt that my advice should stop short of exploring forums with him, so I helped him to enrol in one but left once he had joined it. I should stress that at no time during this visit of about an hour did the Client do or say anything improper. I felt that he had been honest and open in what he was trying to do and that sharing his loneliness and deep desire to fund a soul-mate took courage. However, I was very glad I had taken the call myself and not sent another female volunteer in. I also felt that the client himself was vulnerable and could so easily have got hurt by delving into on-line territories he did not understand. I must say that I see a distinction between private activities and official ITCH work, and was very conscious of being on BCS-related business here and finding the case both unexpected and a little tricky. I'd be interested in any similar experiences other volunteers have had, and reactions from ITCH HQ. Alison Crerar (Edinburgh)

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