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Update from April 2019

Here's the April 2019 issue of Volume 3 of our monthly Digital WM News, the fourth issue of 2019.

Thanks to those subscribers who completed our short survey last month. Survey answers indicate that 60% of people always read the newsletter, with the most popular sections being the news, events and the reading sections. Comments included " I don't have time to get to a lot of events so this is how I try to keep up to date on Tech/Charity news in the West Midlands" and "It's short and punchy so its easy to read". Most people are happy with the fact that DWMN is published monthly and the majority feel it has increased their digital skills and knowledge. People learnt something new, met new people in the field, learnt about upcoming events they otherwise would have missed, and one person got a job which was advertised in a previous issue.

Additional comments included "Keep up the great work!", "thanks so much for championing tech for good in the area" and "A very useful and helpful publication". Special thanks for these kind remarks and we aim to keep deserving them.

We continue to increase digital skills and knowledge in the VCSE sectors, as part of Project 2020, by curating the most useful items we see on the web during the month. We'd love to hear your stories too.

We are aiming to double our readership by the end of 2019. You can help us with this by encouraging your colleagues and friends to subscribe to Digital WM News. They can SIGN UP HERE to ensure they receive the latest issue as soon as it is published.

For our new subscribers in April, we welcome you! Please note that this issue and all previous issues can be found on our website here

Regards

Pauline Roche,
Editor, Digital WM News

360 Giving Data Expedition in Birmingham - Day 2

On April 9th, 360 Giving continued its Birmingham Data Expedition with colleagues from Birmingham City Council, Open Data Manchester, WM Funders Network, The Active Wellbeing Society, West Midlands Funders Forum and several university students.

The Expedition looked into the hows, whats, whos, wheres and whens of Commonwealth Games Legacy by looking at the data and was a continuation of a previous day's event in March.

Read more about the day here

Investigating Digital Tool Re-Use Among UK Charities by Sacha Robehmed, 27th March, 2019

"...Do you work for a charity in the UK that uses digital technology in its service delivery? If so, we’d love to speak with you! We’re particularly interested in charities that focus on children and youth, gender justice, homelessness and mental health.

Please reach out to Sacha at sacha@theengineroom.org or Paola at pverhaert@theengineroom.org..."

One Team Gov Mids first meeting

We're looking forward to meeting soon with Jane Fallon and hearing more about One Team Gov Mids - we hear the meeting was a full house!

Charity Digital Skills report 2019

Support charities to use user-centred digital and design

2nd May
Managing Social Media Through a Content Calendar
Saint Paul's House, 15-20 St Paul’s Square, Birmingham B3 1QU

20th May
Birmingham Design Hop follow-up, in association with Net Squared Midlands

Impact Hub Birmingham, Oxford Street, Birmingham B5 5NR

Joining Forces - a showcase of community services and membership networks
Birmingham Hippodrome, Hurst Street, Thorpe Street entrance, Birmingham B5 4TB

25th June
Charity Digital Conference: Time for Action
London

20th July
Free programming workshop for women (closing date 22nd June)
Birmingham

Regular Meetups

Birmingham Open Code
- weekly (Tues) open study session for folks who program or those who want to get started
Brum SMC – monthly (last Fri) social media meetup
Coding Wednesday – monthly (last Wed) - Codeacademy, YouTube tutorials etc
Digital Evenings (Fircroft College) – semi-regular - improve your digital skills
fizzPOP – monthly (2^nd Wednesday) Lock picking
Impact Hub Birmingham Discovery Tours – weekly (Tues) tour of collaborative space
Net Squared Midlands – regular #techforgood meetup

Open Tech Lectures – monthly technology lecture series

Tech Wednesday – monthly meet up for like-minded individuals in tech industry in Birmingham area

Training

Ongoing

Digital and IT

Fircroft College, 1018 Bristol Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham, B29 6LH

Jane Fallon, new Digital Lead - Public Services Reform at West Midlands Combined Authority is "passionate about using digital and innovation to builder better public services, designed to meet user needs".

How can you assess digital maturity in charities? by Nissa Ramsay, 17th Apr 2019

"...Can you share with us what you have used to assess or benchmark your own digital skills on Twitter (#digitalmaturity, do tag me) send me a Twitter DM, email us or simply drop the basic details in this form and we’ll continue updating and editing the lists (this is a ‘live’ work in progress— so the links above will continue to be up to date).."

What we’re learning about how the sector understands “digital”

by Cassie Robinson, Medium, 30th Apr 2019
"...My hope is that by being more specific about the different things we can mean when we talk about digital, we can help the sector have greater clarity about what it needs and where to start.

Using the analogy of a cafe I’ve broken down the many different ways people had referred to digital in their applications [to the TNL Digital Fund].."

It’s this, not this…
by Cassie Robinson, Medium, 24th Mar 2019

"...Sometimes what good looks like in terms of digital and design can be pretty nuanced and there are already many misconceptions. I’ve created a simple document here that I’d love you to contribute to. Thank you!"

Impact practice made simple (website)
"...Inspiring Impact supports people who work and volunteer for charities, funders, and social enterprises across the UK. We provide free online resources, peer learning networks, and grant funding, so you can plan, understand, and improve your impact..."

FACE NUMBERS: 10 reasons why every communicator needs to take Facebook seriously in 2019 by Dan Slee, 12th Apr 2019
"...as news has moved from print to digital the key to media coverage has evolved from the ability to create 300-words of press release with a photocall to what content you can supply for Facebook...".

Charities, young people and digital mental health services by Clare Wilkins, Oli Kelly-Dean & Angela Kail, NPC, 24th Apr 2019

"This paper reviews the landscape of both private, charity and NHS digital mental health provision for young people. It explores how services are suited to certain conditions and the features which makes services appealing to young people. It also explores what the level of capacity is in charities to develop these services and suggests strategies by which funders can support charities to do more in this area in future"

1st May
Front End Developer
£25,000-£32,500
Developer Society

2nd May
IT Service Desk Analyst
Citizens Advice

7th May
Fundraising Product Manager
Unicef UK

10th May
Head of Marketing and Communications
£35,000 - £40,000 yearly
One Dance UK

17th May
Digital Marketing Officer
£19,446 - £23,111 yearly
The Vegan Society

23rd May
Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships (remote)

£50,000 - £55,000 yearly
CanDo International

No closing date given
Co-Ordinator, Digital Skills Programme
West Midlands Combined Authority

Infrastructure Engineer
£32,000 - £33,000
Money Advice Trust

Hi, I'm Pauline Roche. I'm a freelance journalist with a special interest in data journalism.

I'm also M.D. of RnR Organisation - we're a social enterprise and we aim to increase digital and data literacy amongst smaller non-profits, including by running the Net Squared Midlands meetup and the VCSSCamp unconference for voluntary sector infrastructure organisations.

If you've learned something through this newsletter, or you just think DWMN is great, you can read back issues here.

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