Background to the project

The Switched On Project is funded by the Big Lottery's 'Stepping Stones' programme for five years between 2008 and 2013.  The lead organisation on the Project is the charity People Can (formally the Novas Scarman Group) www.peoplecan.org.uk   People Can's
mission is to help people with fewer chances to use their abilities and work together for better lives and stronger communities

The Switched On Project works in partnership with twenty-two organisations, and is directed by an Operations Group, made up of the key partners which steers and monitors the Project.

Our Project design focuses on addressing the barriers that exist that prevent members of communities from accessing opportunities that most take for granted. The barriers are very real and very complex and have an adverse impact on work, access to learning, services and other aspects of life. There have been a number of programmes that have had some success in engaging these people and demonstrating that the desire to learn and improve exists, often despite the “hard to reach” label. Unfortunately these programmes, usually because of limited resources both in scale and nature, have only been able to nibble away at the edges and reduce some barriers.

This Project seeks to take a longer term view and to tackle the multiple barriers step by step until people reach their goal. This means being able to work alongside people for as much as a year and to work not only on basic skills but also on their personal development to enable them to make best use of those skills acquired. It requires a blended mix of course work and one-to-one support with careful ongoing assessment to identify progress and their preparedness for moving to the next step. At each step we intend to take people further from their comfortable home community environment and into new experiences. Working with people from other communities and linking to their work place/ college continually broadens their experience and their confidence to deal with new situations.  At the same time we also intend to encourage partner organisations to work outside their usual community remit and gain experience of others and of working together in a wider environment and with wider mainstream organisations. 

As far as we can determine this approach appears to be very different from any that we can evidence in the recent past and is unique in taking a stepped long term view and in addressing common issues on a regional – across two cities – as opposed to a very local perspective. The nature and size of the partnership is also something unusual but it is important that we take a more cohesive approach to common problems rather than continue dealing in isolation within any one community.

To deliver on this requires a mix of skills bringing together Tutors, Support Workers and Volunteer mentors all coordinated via a Project Manager. The basic annual budget is approximately £200,000 which is provided by the Big Lottery. To have maximum impact the programme is being delivered over a 5 year period which gives time to perfect the delivery.

This project builds on the work undertaken in Cardiff under the Switch Partnership which, over a four year period, established and equipped over twenty community learning access points in premises used by partners giving both ICT equipment and broadband access for learners as well as running bespoke courses involving over 3000 learners. In Newport a smaller project developed known as Switch (of Newport) which again developed a number of community learning access points and sought resources for bespoke courses.

In parallel Novas Scarman also developed an interest and considerable skills in all aspects of ICT and combating digital exclusion. This work was funded by the Lottery focusing on Digtial Story Telling, by Microsoft called Can Do Online and then under the auspices of Communities @ One known as Can Do IT.