Celebration 2.0 – Programme coming together

It’s been a bit difficult with Christmas intervening since the start of the project, but the programme of events for Celebration 2.0 is now coming together. I’m really excited about the varied nature of the activities I’m going to be involved in. The schedule is working out just as I had planned, with a mix of traditional and eclectic events, ranging from the large-scale to the small community happening.

So here is the schedule as it stands at the moment. There is still plenty of room for more activities, and I don’t want to finalise the programme as yet, as there will be events coming later that are not even planned yet, and I want the momentum of the project to attract attention and lead to engagement with some more high profile events at later stages.

Don’t worry if you’ve spoken to me and you are not on this list. This is the list of (more-or-less) confirmed events. There are more to come.

JANUARY

28th – Sheffield Steel Roller Girls: Murder on the Flat Track Express I’m really looking forward to working with the Roller Girls to help them spread the word about a growing phenomenon. I’ll be with them from 12 noon till 6pm, helping to cover 2 bouts (including a mens’ contest!) and celebrate the atmosphere and passion of the crowd. More at http://www.sheffieldsteelrollergirls.com/ and, if you want to be there on the day, you can buy tickets at http://www.arenaticketshop.co.uk/whats-on/sheffield-steel-rollergirls-/

FEBRUARY

4th – LocalGovCamp North West (Preston) Connectivity and availability of kit permitting, I want to take a new approach to this unconference for local government people with a technology bent. As well as live video streaming the main sessions, I will be attempting to live stream all of the break out sessions simultaneously, probably on an audio-only basis, so people outside the room can experience the full range of topics under discussion. And, in the spirit of Celebration 2.0 I will be asking the delegates what needs to happen to make their lives and work more fun, and how they can help bring more fun into the lives of the people they serve. More about LocalGovCamp NW here http://localgovcampnw.eventbrite.com/?ebtv=C

11th – Hack to the Future (Preston) Back to Preston again for this exciting event which aims to encourage young people (11-18) to become digital creators. I’ll be celebrating and amplifying the event itself, but also, in the spirit of the enterprise, I’ll be inviting some of the young people present to join me in recording what goes on so they can learn how to be social reporters too. More about Hack to the Future at http://ec2-46-137-155-1.eu-west-1.compute.amazonaws.com/mediawiki-1.18.0/index.php/Main_Page

24th – Dewsbury Spirit - One of the spectacular events organised by Kirklees Council’s Events Team. More information here http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/events/spirit/spirit.shtml

25th – Leeds Well-Being Centre Chatathon -Leeds Wellbeing Centre, a charity project  for vulnerable adults, is holding a sponsored 12 hour chatathon and Centre open day. This entails a group of people being sponsored to converse for 12 hours about random topics picked out of a hat (that’s the chatathon) and a series of complementary therapy workshops for people to take part in

MARCH

1st – Pecha Kucha Barnsley -Part of a world-wide network of events. Pecha Kucha Night’ involves a few people giving short presentations of 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each, about a personal project, passion or idea of their choice. The organisers of the Barnsley event are keen to being it to wider attention. The 1st March evening will have a loose theme of “The Diversity of Barnsley” and, by linking up with Celebration 2.0, the intention is to show the world that Barnsley is no longer the town of miners and glass-blowers (although there are no promises that mining and glass-blowing will not be mentioned). More at http://www.pknbarnsley.co.uk/

MAY

5-7th Wray Scarecrow Festival - The Twicket Match (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twicket) which was the inspiration for Celebration 2.0 took place during the Wray Village annual Scarecrow Festival and was punctuated by a 15-foot scarecrow invading the pitch. The attention generated by Twicket helped to boost visitor numbers to the Festival to their highest ever. This year, Celebration 2.0 will turn the spotlight directly on the Festival itself. More information at http://www.wrayvillage.co.uk/scarecrows.htm

17th – Be Good Be Social (Glasgow) – Celebration 2.0 comes to Scotland. Be Good Be Social brings together third sector professionals interested in social media for social good. The events are a chance to learn, debate and connect with others working for non-profits, charities and social enterprises. I will be attempting to combine being a Keynote Speaker with amplifying the event. Wish me luck! http://begoodbesocial.org.uk/

JUNE

3rd – The Big Lunch - Celebration 2.0 as been designed to culminate with The Big Lunch. Watch this space for details http://www.thebiglunch.com/join-in/jubilee-2012.php

 

Celebration 2.0 – How do we measure this?

I’d like to thank everyone who has wished me well for, and expressed interest in, the Celebration 2.0 project.

One of the key things I am grappling with in the project is just how we measure the change we are looking to shape as a result of it. And there are two key activities that might be particularly difficult to pin down. These are:

• Is encouraging people to have fun with and around technology an effective way of introducing newcomers to its benefits? and
• Can we encourage people to see technology as integral to their lives, and, therefore, life enhancing, not a chore to be avoided where possible.

On the first point. It was possibly an unexpected bonus of the #twicket initiative that all sorts of people were turned on to technology as a result of participating in or watching an age-old tradition, the village cricket match. This included the people who tuned in to watch and commented that it was the only opportunity to watch cricket without paying a satellite TV subscription, those who enthused about the opportunity to witness a “quaint” English tradition from the United States, and those who said they had no interest in cricket but it was an intriguing event. But, some of the more interesting outcomes related to the local people whose involvement opened their eyes to possibilities they had not previously envisaged.

Two of the players in the cricket match, both local farmers, were interviewed on prominent radio stations (one on TalkSport, one on BBC London) in the week following the game. Both reacted with a certain amount of bemusement that the friendly game they had played in for years was suddenly attracting so much attention. Both players also reported strong interest from contacts on Facebook in far away parts of the world who had witnessed them playing in the game online.

And then there was the case of Brenda, the local commentator, who became an instant internet phenomenon, with her blend of whimsical cricket commentary interspersed with village gossip, such that there was an outpouring of complaint on Twitter when she took a break from the microphone and demands for her to commentate on other important events, such as the Royal Wedding. She also won praise from BBC cricket commentator, Alison Mitchell.

Brenda is a particular case in point. Her lack of interest in technology has extended to her total refusal to believe the plaudits that came in for her following her commentating triumph. And yet, with the help of local technology champion, Chris Conder, she has now signed up to Skype and is talking to relatives all over the world, and was present at the recent launch of B4rn, the project that is aiming to bring 1Gbps Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections to the residents of that part of north Lancashire. Brenda was introduced to new technologies not on a training course or in an IT centre, but on the school field, in her village, in the midst of a regular fun event.

So, a key driver of Celebration 2.0 is to show people that technology can be fun, and something that they already enjoy, like a regular village cricket match, can have a new technology element too. After all, the majority of people who use technology in their every day lives use it for having fun, whether it be for sharing photos with friends or family, talking to friends around the world for free, or playing any of the multitude of Facebook games.

And that leads me on to the second point; about how do we encourage technological fluency.  I think that, in the digital inclusion arena, too many people fall into the trap of thinking people are either online or they’re not. But, I know from experience that there are many people who have basic knowledge about new technologies, but don’t see them as integral to their lives, so they only use them when they have to. When I run social media surgeries, I see lots of people who obviously have learned how to use a computer, but struggle to use it quickly and fluently. And there is a prevailing theme of forgotten passwords; so many people say to me “Oh, I signed up to that, but I’ve never used it because I forgot my password”.  On a social media training course I ran, there was the case of the person who arrived with an ancient laptop with no wifi card, and couldn’t understand why it wouldn’t access the internet. I’ve also seen people who, even after a demonstration of how online video conferencing will allow them to talk to family on the other side of the world for free, still prefer to spend a fortune on phone calls, because they are frightened of computers. And I think there is an even bigger issue with people not being able to work out how smartphones operate.

It could be argued that none of this really matters, but the arguments put forward for digital inclusion apply equally to the digitally inarticulate as they do to the excluded. For those who see the internet as a chore, it is something which sits in a compartment of their lives only to be visited when absolutely necessary. And they may never get fluent enough to enjoy the benefits it gives to those of use who use it all the time. I learned French and Spanish at school, but I struggle to converse when I go to those countries, because the only time I use the language is when I am there, and, more often than not, the locals take pity on my awkwardness and speak back to me in English. Lack of digital fluency is like that; if you don’t use it regularly, you will always be rusty.

I am certain that Celebration 2.0 will break some new ground in finding new ways both of convincing people that new technologies are for them, and in encouraging them to become fluent in their use. I’d be really grateful for some views on how we actually measure both of these effects.

Thank you

Introducing Celebration 2.0

I am extremely pleased, and not a little proud, to announce the launch of a new project. Celebration 2.0 is funded by Nominet Trust, and I will be delivering the project in collaboration with Talk About Local. My estimable colleague, David Wilcox, will also have an important role to play.

The genesis of Celebration 2.0 was the #twicket inititiative that I ran on Easter Monday 2011 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twicket). There were three very important lessons that came out of #twicket:

• “Fun” events can achieve large scale, global audiences online and attract mainstream media attention;
• People who previously had seen no use for new technologies in their lives radically changed their attitudes as a result of being involved in an event that was enhanced by technology;
• Serious messages can be conveyed to large audiences engaged by their interest in the fun nature of the event.

So the core of Celebration 2.0 is to do more of what #twicket was about. Essentially, I will be going where people are having fun, helping them to use new technologies to enhance and amplify their events, engage new audiences, connect with others in the world doing similar things, and celebrate their traditions and cultures. And, in doing so, I’ll be looking to disseminate some pratical strategies for engaging the reluctant in the use of new technologies.

Some of the things I’ll be looking to do around celebratory events are:

• live video streaming
• live audio streaming
• recorded video via Youtube (or similar site)
• recorded audio via Audioboo (or similar site)
• video and audio interviews
• live blogging
• Facebook pages
• event blogs
• securing and utilising internet connectivity in difficult places

Celebration 2.0 is live now, and will run to the first week in June 2012. And the first step is collate a list of events (carnivals, fetes, festivals, unusual sporting events, etc.), happening between now and then, where people are happy to have me along to help them celebrate using technology. So, please let me know, in the comments section of this blog, by tweeting me @johnpopham, or by emailing john[dot]popham[at]johnpopham[dot]com if you are running a celebration event I can be part of. I am particularly keen to hear from cultural and arts networks which might have a series of events planned. And, I need a lot of help and support from my network in reaching out to people who don’t spend a lot of time online, but who have events that would be suitable for inclusion in my programme.

This project has been some time in gestation. I am extremely grateful to Nominet Trust for showing faith in it and putting their resources behind it, and to William Perrin and Talk About Local for following up on their initial support for the #twicket event by helping me make this happen. I also want to talk to policy and decision makers about how this approach can be built into funding and support programmes as well as digital inclusion, digital engagement, and digital service delivery strategies. So I will be knocking on doors in Whitehall, Westminster, and elsewhere to show the benefits of having fun with technology.

Please get in touch if you can help with Celebration 2.0 in any way. I hope to see you soon at an event near you.

The Can’t Get Online Tales

I’ve been thinking about ways to keep the Can’t Get Online campaign going, now the week has ended. The problems the Week highlighted have not gone away, although I hope it did something to help bring solutions closer.

Some time ago, I read an article about the novel and movie plot lines which would be ruined had their narratives taken place after the invention of the mobile phone. But that doesn’t apply in many rural areas. Without a mobile signal, people cannot be tracked down or interrupted, or call for help.

The most important part of Can’t Get Online Week, for me, was the collection of stories people had to tell about the problems that not being able to get online presented them with. I think stories are powerful tools for engagement. So, I present a couple of “Can’t Get Online” Tales for your enjoyment or critique. And please feel free to post your own.

Little Red Riding Hood and the lack of network signal

http://www.deviantart.com/download/116134791/Little_Red_Riding_Hood_n_Wolf_by_imaginism.jpg

As Little Red Riding Hood makes her way through the forest her parents hear stories on the news about a wolf loose in the neighbourhood. Their frantic calls fail to alert Red, however, as their is no signal coverage in the forest. As Red arrives at Grandma’s cottage, a brief moment of connection flashes a warning text message on her phone, but it is too late to stop the wolf slamming the door shut behind her and gobbling her up.

Later the wolf slopes off to sleep off his huge, undigested meal, but makes the mistake of heading for the local hill-top which has line-of-sight to a distant phone mast. The hunter is alerted by Red Riding Hood’s phone ringing in the wolf’s belly and cuts him open to release Red and her grandma.

Jack and The Beans-Talk-Talk

http://www.beautifulsms.com/Jack.gif

Jack’s mother tries to research the likely selling price of the family cow on the internet, but, frustrated by her slow connection, she sends Jack off to market, telling him to “get what he can”. When Jack returns with the magic beans, his mother attempts to go online to find out what they are, but the answers take too long to download. so she throws the beans out of the window in frustration.

The next morning, Jack climbs up the beanstalk, but finds there is no mobile signal in the giant’s castle, so is unable to tell anyone else what he has found. Later, as he hides in terror from the enraged giant, a brief moment of connection causes the text message signal on his phone to sound loudly in his pocket, giving away his location to the giant, and forcing him to flee, leading to the denouement of the tale, with the cutting down of the beanstalk with giant crashing to the ground, before Jack has had a chance to steal any of the treasure in the castle.

Do you have your own Can’t Get Online tale?

Can’t Get Online Week – The Amazing WiBE

I don’t usually endorse products, but, during Can’t Get Online Week, I experienced something which really knocked me sideways. In the run up to the week, Richard Dix of Rural Broadband contacted me to ask if I would like a loan of a WiBE (Wireless Broadband Extender) for the week. I gratefully accepted his offer, but did so with a degree of skepticism. I had read some of the publicity about the WiBE which seemed to make unfeasible claims about its ability to get mobile broadband signals in places where no other device could get one, but I was willing to give it a go, as some of the places I was due to visit during the week would offer it a real challenge.

So, as I was leaving the second event of day 2 at Sedgeford, Norfolk, Richard handed over the box containing the WiBE and I wired it into the car to make the Can’t Get Online Week vehicle truly internet enabled.

I also took possession of a second WiBE to hand over to Lindsey Annison for testing in the Cyberbarn and other remote parts of Cumbria, and Chris Conder had already received hers through the post, and was putting it through its paces around north Lancashire.

My initial impression was that the WiBE was getting an impressively stable signal in the car as I drove from Norfolk to Birmingham, but I didn’t really get a chance to put it through its paces until I reached the Cyberbarn in Warcop on the Wednesday evening. There, in a village where mobile signals are at best patchy, and half the households can get no broadband connection at all via landlines, the WiBE registered between 2 and 3Mbps in different locations.

But, the really impressive performance came on Thursday afternoon, at the Goats on the Roof Cafe. Jumping into the car after an impassioned meeting at Byers Green in County Durham, I headed up the A1, past Newcastle, turned off, and trusted the SatNav to take me to the right place. I was having doubts as the roads got windier and narrower, and seemed to go on for ever. But, then I saw the Goats on the Roof sign.

But, even then, there was a bit of doubt, as this led me on to a single-track road which seemed to take a long while to navigate. Then a reservoir came into view, with a wooden building in the foreground, which I was relieved to discover was the cafe in question.

As you can see, it was getting dark, and, unfortunately, I was not to be fortunate enough to see any actual goats on the roof. As I got out of the car, I thought that this had to be the most remote venue of the week, there wasn’t a house to be seen for miles.

Any way, I soon learned that the internet connectivity for the cafe, and for 11 other households in the area, was provided by the Fontburn Internet Project whose members share a 3Mbps connection which is bounced around the hills by wireless means.

At this point, I plugged in the WiBE, fully expecting it not to work at all, as, not only is there no landline connection at Goats on the Roof, I was told that no one gets a mobile signal out there. And this is where I, and everyone else present, reeled in astonishment, as the WiBE pulled in a signal in excess of 4Mbps. Here’s the proof.

And so, in an area where no one gets a mobile signal, and no one can watch youtube or BBC iPlayer, we were able to do a live video Skype call with Richard Dix and I was able to play “Frozen Planet” on iPlayer.

As the Speed Test says, the WiBE had turned Fontburn from one of the more difficult connectivity areas in the country, to one which was suddenly “Faster than 52% of GB”.

And, since then, Chris and Lindsey have been out testing their WiBE’s in remote areas, and getting similarly remarkable results. You can see some of Chris’s tests on Fibre the Dog’s Bambuser channel here.

So, there it is. I was honestly amazed with what the WiBE could do. I am not sure it is a long term solution for internet access, but, if it can take people, in an instant, from having no internet connection at all, to having 4Mbps, it has got to be worth checking out.

More about the WiBE here http://ruralbroadband.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=73&Itemid=105

ADDITION

Just as an addition to this post, I checked out the mobile broadband coverage map for Goats on the Roof. It shows no signal coverage at all on the Three network.

Can’t Get Online Week – Some first reflections

I’m probably going to write a lot of reflections on Can’t Get Online Week. This is the first, relatively immediate reaction.

Last week, I drove more than 1300 miles visiting communities that struggle to get internet connections and feel cut off from the modern world. I started off in the New Forest and reached north Northumberland, before turning south to finish the week in Yorkshire, where I live. But what did I learn, apart from the fact that England is a big country? Well, I think there were a number of main lessons:

• The tipping point has come – no one thinks internet access is not essential any more;
• Poor connectivity can be an accident of economics as well as geography. Some less remote communities struggle through lack of investment in connectivity infrastructure because they have traditionally not been seen as lucrative markets;
• There are very many communities where the maximum achievable connectivity through landlines is 0.5Mbps, and still more where it is much worse;
• There is very little awareness in many communities of the County Broadband Plans being drawn up by local authorities and their partners; and, where there is awareness, people either cannot afford to wait for them to work their way through, or don’t believe they will ever reach their communities;
• People are suffering NOW from poor connectivity. Young people are failing in school through not being able to do online homework; business people are having to maintain expensive urban properties to get connectivity; villages are being depopulated; and property prices are falling;
• many rural communities know nothing about the successes of their counterparts elsewhere in taking their own steps to improve connectivity because the only available source of information is online, and they cannot access it.

Here’s A.J. whose education is directly suffering through poor broadband. He will not get a second chance at his school days  

And Steve Clarke, in Essex, was typical of the business people I met who are having real problems

But, I am an optimist, and what I am really optimistic about, following Can’t Get Online Week, is community spirit. At some of the events I convened, their were neighbours who had never spoken to each other before, who not only started a dialogue, drawn together by their mutual lack of broadband, but finished the meeting vowing to work together to do something about it. I think lack of broadband can be a galvanising issue for community spirit, and I hope I have been able to play a small part in planting a few sparks to that end.

We need to do something about this issue, and it needs to be done quickly before the urban / rural divide gets wider. If you can help me with practical action, then please get in touch with me by any of the methods here.

In the run up to Can’t Get Online Week, I appeared on Radio 4′s “Today” programme, Radio 5 Live’s “Outriders” and was interviewed by the Guardian and the Huddersfield Examiner. During the week, I appeared on BBC Radio Norfolk, BBC Radio Lancashire, Stray FM, BBC Radio Humberside, BBC TV’s “Look North”, and an online video for “Farmers’ Weekly”. Can’t Get Online Week was featured in countless local papers and specialist publications.

Can’t Get Online Week secured the support of Downton Abbey actor Hugh Bonneville, and was tweeted about by Stephen Fry.

I have a model now (following on from Twicket, the world’s first live broadcast of a village cricket match) for using Social Media campaigns to raise the profile of issues and campaigns to national, regional and local prominence. Please contact me if you’d like me to do the same for you.

Media Appearances in Can’t Get Online Week

Here are my mainstream media appearances during Can’t Get Online Week

Monday 31st October – BBC Radio Norfolk Breakfast Show

Wednesday 2nd November – BBC Radio Lancashire Breakfast Show

Friday 4th November – BBC Radio Humberside Breakfast Show

And here is me being interviewed by Johann Tasker of “Famers’ Weekly”

Can’t Get Online Week – Day 6

The final day of the challenge began with torrential rain, but the mood was brightened immediately when I walked into Moorsholm Memorial Hall to be greeted by some 50 residents, together with the local MP, Tom Blenkinsopp, who were passionate and committed in their determination to do something about the poor quality of broadband in their North Yorkshire village. As resident after resident pointed out, Moorsholm is not particularly remote, and yet there are people there who get landline broadband speeds as low as 68kbps. Particularly frustrating is that next-door neighbours can get wildly different speeds to each other. There were tales about the impossibility of doing business online; about having to move away to study, and a story about the lady who is unable to use Skype to see her grandchildren in Australia.

The really good news is that Moorsholm seems to have a plan coming together to address its problems, led by local resident, Trevor Watson. As Tom Blenkinsop, MP agreed, poor broadband has become a powerful catalyst for community action in the village.

Here, Moorsholm residents tell their stories.

Ian Soloman

Graeme Aldous

Steve Nichols

Carmen Smith

Steven Cook

Trevor Watson

Alan Slater

and Tom Blenkinsop MP, praises the community’s efforts

I was sorry to leave Moorsholm, where the community spirit was truly infectious, but it was back in the car and over the foggy and very wet heights of the North Yorkshire Moors, heading for the next venue, The Triton Inn, at Sledmere, near Driffield. This visit was covered by BBC TV’s “Look North”, and was remarkable for the only occasion when the WiBE failed to get a signal.

Here Simon Ullyott talks about the problems of trying to do business online in the area.

When we emerged from the Triton Inn, the sun had come out and it shone all the way to the next venue, in the church at South Stainley, near Harrogate. This was the final venue of the week, and there was another interesting community gathering. Discussion started with residents venting their frustration with their current lack of connectivity, again in a not particularly remote community, on the main road between Harrogate and Ripon. As the discussion progressed, resolution grew to do something about the situation, and Parish Councillor, John Denton, agreed to call people together so they could explore the options.

Here John Denton and Hugh Lewis talk about the problems poor broadband causes them.

It was perhaps fitting that the final event of Can’t Get Online Week ended with a practical demonstration of the issues such communities face. One resident received a call that her son had missed the school bus because he had been kept behind after school to talk about the late submission of his online homework. The homework had been late because he had to wait to visit his grandmother in London to do it, not being able to do it at home. As the meeting ended, A.J. and his mum arrived, and A.J. agreed to talk on camera about the issue.

And so, that was that. What a week it was.

I’ll post some more reflective thoughts when I have time, but at the moment, the overwhelming feelings are tiredness and inspiration. It is truly inspiring that communities are using their frustration with poor connections to come together and do something about it.

The tiredness might have something to do with more than 1300 miles on the car’s clock

Can’t Get Online Week – Day 5

Day 5 started at the Northern Farming Conference in Sedgefield, County Durham, where there were opportunities to interview a number of people, including the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Jim Paice MP

President of the CLA, William Worsley

and land agent, Alistair Cochrane

And then it was back in the car for the short journey to the Durham village of Byers Green, and one of the liveliest meetings of the week. This was an event organised by the good people of Digital Durham. I was told there had been a passionate public meeting the previous evening with 220 people packing out the Village Hall. A lot of thought had obviously gone into building the village’s case, and a good cross section of people were present at the meeting. They were certainly at the earliest stages of a campaign, but it was clear that there is a real momentum behind their determination to get decent broadband, and it is an issue which is bringing the community together. Byers Green is not far from the connurbations of Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor, but is still too far from the exchange for anyone to get more than 0.5Mbps.  I was sorry to leave Byers Green because the people’s passion was really infectious. But, before I did, I was able to capture some of the points people were making.

Cllr. Kevin Toms

Alan Brunskill

Tommy Thompson

David Cassie

Kevin Wood

Phil Jackman

 

Then it was back in the car, and off to Northumberland. Just north of the Angel of the North, the week’s journey reached the 1000 mile mark

It was 4pm when I arrived at the Goats on the Roof Cafe in Fontburn, Northumberland. This may have been the most remote location on the tour, and a good group was gathered, particularly focused around the people running the Fontburn Internet Project, which has connected up 11 households in the area to a wireless network. Unfortunately, there were no goats on the roof at the time, but an excellent discussion ensued about how the work on developing internet access can be a catalyst for community development.

One of the interesting aspects of the evening was what happened when I plugged in the WiBE (Wireless Broadband Extender) loaned to me by Richard Dix of Rural Broadband. No one can get a mobile phone signal at the cafe, but the WiBE was able to get a connection of more than 4Mbps, and we were able to watch BBC iPlayer and conduct a Skype video call with Richard.

Here are some of the stories from Fontburn.

Nina Remnant

Louise and Julie from Fontburn Internet Project

Fontburn was the furthest point north of the Can’t Get Online Week tour, which had started nearly on the south coast on Sunday. Now, the journey turned south for the final day in Yorkshire.

Can’t Get Online Week – Day 4

As Day 4 began, around 7:30, Chris Conder handed me the phone, saying that BBC Radio Lancashire just wanted to do a line test ahead of a live interview at 8:20. As I took the phone, a voice said “putting you through to the studio now” and, within seconds I was live on air.

After that surprise, we headed off to Wray Village Institute for an intense morning of video and audio interviews with people from surrounding villages.

There were some incredible tales of the problems not being online has caused. in their lives, most of which they tell themselves in the videos that follow. But, one particular story stands out, that told by Ted Lester about his children who got detentions because they couldn’t do their online homework. There was a strong suggestion that the children did not want to admit not being able to get online at home as that would be a stigma among their friends.

Jan Forshaw

Nicholas Race, from Lancaster University, explaining the background to Wray Village as a Living Lab

Ted Lester

Mick and Tom

Keith, Margaret and Edward

Geoff Higgin

Rod Burgess

Carol Butcher

And an audio interview with Karen Denby

From Wray, it was on to the Westmorland Showground in Cumbria for another lively group discussion. This included a passionate rant by Jennet about her problems with getting any sort of broadband connection from BT and her frustrations with getting the situation redressed.

I was also able to get some background from County Broadband Plan Hub Co-ordinator Cath Davenport, on progress with the Plan in her part of Cumbria.

From there it was on to Garstang for a meeting of the CLA Lancashire Committee, and an opportunity to talk to some of those present about their involvement in broadband initiatives.

Past-President of the CLA, Rodney Swarbrick told me why it is important for the CLA to support the development of rural broadband.

Martin Harker, Manager of the Knowsley Estate, described how he has helped to bring fast fibre broadband to the estate

And, CLA North Director, Douglas Chalmers described some of the things the CLA is doing to support Rural Broadband initiatives

And then it was on to the Cyberbarn, the country’s first rural broadband demonstrator and training centre, in Warcop, Cumbria