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Thursday Mar 30, 2006
Not government and not broken
Take a look at this BBC story about government sites with accessibility problems. The story itself is vaguely interesting (although not particularly surprising). What's more curious is the photo they've used to illustrate the article: the PM browsing a website which happens to be do-it.org.uk.
The picture is about five years old, taken when do-it.org.uk was first launched by Tony Blair at a nightclub in London's Leicester Square. Here's how the site used to look. Not sure why they chose this picture of the PM for this story. Maybe it's the only one they could find of him near a computer.
(Thanks Matt and Cath for the link)
Posted by Dom Waghorn ( 4:04 PM ) Link to this post Comments[0]Commission On The Future Of Volunteering
It's been a good seven days if you like voluntary sector grand inquisitions.
Hot on the heels of Gordon Brown's Budget announcement that "HM Treasury will undertake a review into the future role and long-term priorities of the third sector in economic and social regeneration" comes the establishment of the Commission On The Future Of Volunteering.
The Commission has been set up by the England Volunteering Development Council "to develop a long term vision for volunteering in England as a legacy of the Year of the Volunteer 2005".
Whether or not you think this work is necessary, surely the point of such a body is to start with an open mind. So why is the Chair, Julia Neuberger, already making statements like: "I do not believe that volunteering should be a way of offering public services on the cheap."?
It's an assertion that is repeated in the organisation's first press release, headed: "Volunteers aren't a way of delivering services on the cheap, says new Commission."
Of course, it sounds like something that no one could disagree with. But it can be phrased another way: Should volunteers help to extend the reach of public services?
It's a difficult and complicated debate. And surely not one to be pre-judged by a Commission with 15 months to go before its final report.
Posted by Tom Green ( 11:00 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]