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The Organisation and Our Activities

Cambridge Online’s main aim is to help disabled and disadvantaged people by providing free computer access and computer training. We aim to develop employability, life skills, and the life of the community.

We are a successful and established educational charity run by and for people in Cambridgeshire. Volunteers are involved in every aspect of our work, and we rely heavily on their day to day support.

Cambridge Online was one of the first organisations to provide free public internet access, to address the issue of accessibility for all, and to assist voluntary and public sector bodies in taking their work online. A number of organisations, including publicly funded bodies, have now taken on some of the work that Cambridge Online pioneered, starting in 1995.

Overall management responsibility is held by the Board of Trustees, with day to day management delegated to Andrew Entecott, the Chief Executive.

Cambridge Online currently provides support for the local community in various ways to meet their needs. Our main work is providing specialist one to one learning sessions [eg training in computer skills, basic literacy, and work skills] for disabled and disadvantaged people, but we also:

• Provide computer access at 20 locations
• Provide a community website where people share their personal memories, stories, photographs and video, using social media
• Maintain a website full of local information, training links, and links to hundreds of local and regional websites
• Provide one to one tutorials
• Run a unique training facility offering one to one support for people living with a disability who might need additional support and special computer equipment
• Promote the use of adaptive technology to third sector groups in the East of England
• Act as Regional Accessibility Champion

All activities are free to beneficiaries, and we believe that this is fundamental to the nature of the service that we offer. We are currently working with about 100 disabled learners. Our greatest success is the provision of around 4,000 one to one learning support sessions annually for people living with a disability.

The charity uses a network of about 35 local people working as mentors and tutors, with around 50% of them living with a disability themselves. Others come from Cambridge’s enterprise community. The return on investment far exceeds the £6,000 it costs to run the charity for one month, and Cambridge Online plays a valuable role in creating social capital.
 

The Level of Need

One in five people have some form of disability. They often face barriers, and there can be obstacles to overcome in all aspects of their life. Sickness, disability and poor mental health are key reasons for lack of employment. 12.7% of the economically inactive population are sick or disabled and 1 in 6 disabled people lose their jobs during the first year of acquiring their disability. People who are sick or disabled represent the biggest group among those who are economically inactive but want paid work. Cambridge Online believes that access to computers and the internet is critical to improving prospects for Employment, Education, Leisure, Communication and Independence for disabled and disadvantaged people. Can you imagine life without being able to use a computer?

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) makes it illegal to discriminate against people with a disability. This means
• Treating a disabled person less favourably for a reason related to their disability
• Failing to make reasonable adjustments to avoid placing a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with someone who is not disabled
Cambridge Online believes that we are able to help individuals and other Third Sector Groups by helping them to comply with the DDA law through our training and accessibility assessment services.

Our service was set up as a result of research to identify groups that needed additional support to access new technology. The research was carried out through individual contact with disabled people and organisations working in the field of disability, and several consultative open days were held. People with disabilities asked for special equipment and training, and we responded by developing expertise in the use of specialist equipment and setting up a training room where users could receive intensive one to one learning support in an informal setting.

Pen Pictures

Brian is one example of somebody who has used the service to great benefit. A person with enduring mental illness, Brian used to spend most of his time at a day centre dozing, and did not engage in any activity. After encouragement from day centre and Cambridge Online staff, Brian began a ten week computer literacy course with a fellow service user. Since then Brian’s use of the computer has flourished, using email to keep in touch with relatives, the internet for research into music and soaps, and word processor to write letters and poems. He moved on to the drop-in sessions where support was reduced, and has now progressed on to become a confident mentor, encouraging and supporting others to access and use our service.

David has a mild learning disability and is in his mid-40s. He has worked as an architectural assistant for many years and has helped to draw the schemes for many buildings. Although David is very capable and reliable, he found it impossible to cope with converting his drawing skills to the computer. We were approached by a relative who explained the situation. As a result David attended our service for over a year, and we were able to provide an individual tutor for two hours each week, converting his skills to a computer aided design application. Following his time with us, David was much more able to re-gain employment (and huge personal satisfaction) as an architectural assistant.
Peter has cerebral palsy which severely restricts the control he has over his limbs. With help from Cambridge Online he has learnt how to use a computer using a switch which he controls by turning his head. He uses the computer to view photographs, music videos and games.

Audrey is a university professor who had a stroke which left her unable to use her computer – she could only use one hand for typing, and her memory for spelling words was severely impaired. Having been taught by Cambridge Online she is now able to use voice recognition software to use the computer for word processing, emails, and internet research.

The Appeal

Our vision for the next five years is to continue to consolidate our work helping disabled and disadvantaged people to use computers and the internet in support of their own and their community’s development. We will continue to do this in the ways we have already established, mainly through one to one support at our current locations, but we will also look at new locations, and new initiatives where funding is available.

We will continue to develop our work with other organisations where we provide consultation and advice in the field of public access to computers and the internet.

Cambridge Online is a well established charity, and annual accounts are available for inspection. Having consolidated our work, and focussed our future on providing ongoing services for disabled and disadvantaged groups, we are now developing a firm foundation for our work, both through partnership and through established links in our community. We need to raise £70,000 to maintain our service each year.

In previous years we have received most of our income through the national lottery, central and local government, and from trusts. Despite being an established charity, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to attract funding for our on-going costs. This is a well-known phenomenon for third sector groups where it is much easier to obtain funds for new initiatives. Without attracting additional income our work will be at risk of closure. We publicise donations and grants on our websites, on our printed material, in media releases and at our events.

We welcome visitors to our learning centre, and are happy to answer any questions or provide additional information.


Andrew Entecott, Chief Executive

Visit home page www.cambridgeonline.org.uk