About

This blog has been set up to share ideas and learning from the Fenland Social Media project with practitioners working within local authorities and other public services.

What is the purpose of the project?
The project is focused on the Fenland district in north Cambridgeshire, and a pilot is underway in Wisbech and some of the small rural villages north of the town. The project aims to help local communities become safer, stronger and get on well together.

Currently residents can attend neighbourhood board meetings, police surgeries and community to discuss local services and set priorities for local service providers. Residents who don’t attend public meetings will be encouraged to get their views heard using social media.

This will ensure that local priorities are based on the views of a more representative group of local people. Groups who often do not get their views heard include migrant communities, travellers, young people and those who have very busy lives and are unable to find the time to attend public meetings.

Who is managing the project?
The project is led by Cambridgeshire County Council working in partnership with Fenland District Council, the Rosmini Centre, Cambridgeshire Acre, Cambridge Housing Society, Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The project team is made up of neighbourhood and community development teams, the Web Development Manager and a Communications Officer from Cambridgeshire County Council.

Paul Henderson and colleagues from RuralNet Futures are providing advice to the project team on the use of social media and developing the project website.

How is the project funded?
The project is funded by the Communities and Local Government customer-led efficiency and transformation fund (the social media strand). The funding programme is being managed by the IDeA.

Where is the project happening?
The project is starting with a pilot in the market town Wisbech and an area known as the ‘rural north’, which includes a number of rural villages such as Gorefield, Leverington, Murrow, Newton, Parson Drove, Tydd St Giles and Wisbech St Mary.

How are local communities being involved?
At the start of the project a number of focus groups were organised and a community survey was carried out. The survey targeted some of the target groups the project aims to involve through existing community groups and centres.

From this research we identified:

• how people raise issues in their local community
• what type of issues are raised
• how social media is used
• attitudes towards social media (we showed examples of local groups or individuals using Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Google Maps as well as national, independent sites like FixMyStreet)
• current access to the internet
• social media literacy

The community has been involved in usability testing sessions to provide feedback on the site we are developing.

As the project progresses we will be offering social media surgeries to the community to encourage local residents and community groups to use social media to get things done.

Residents can also volunteer to be Community Champions – active users of the site who report issues on behalf of their community, find out what has been reported and discuss solutions with other residents and service providers. Community Champions will also have a role to play in supporting their neighbours to use the site.

How is social media being used?
One of our first steps was to carry out an audit of social media usage in Wisbech and the surrounding area. We searched for existing community discussion forums, blogs, Twitter users, Facebook pages and groups.

Access to the internet and social media literacy in Wisbech and the surrounding area is lower than the national average. We found there was a relatively little evidence of social media being used to discuss local issues, so we decided on the following approach:

• Develop a WordPress site to enable residents to report issues, suggest ideas and comment on issues reported by other residents. Service providers will respond to issues and ideas raised by residents. The site is linked with YouTube, Flickr, Google Maps, Delicious and Facebook. Service Providers will also use the site to explain how local residents can get involved to make a difference in their local area and report back on how they are tackling local priorities, using video and blog posts.
• Train and support communities to use social media to improve their local area. We plan to run social media surgeries with the aim to encourage local communities and groups to learn about the benefits of using blogs, Facebook pages, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and other useful social media tools.

How will the project be evaluated?
Because local areas are assessed by the national indicators (NI’s) we will be measuring the project’s impact against the following indicators:

• NI 1– belief that people from different backgrounds get on well together
• NI 4 – agreement that they can influence decisions in their locality
• NI 5 – overall / general satisfaction with the local area
• NI 14 – avoidable contact
• NI 17 – perceptions of anti-social behaviour.

The success of the project will also be measured by seeking feedback from residents in Wisbech and the rural north villages.

Where can I contact to find out more about the project?

For further information about the project contact Michele Ide-Smith, Web Development Manager at Cambridgeshire County Council on 01223 699710 or email michele.ide-smith@cambridgeshire.gov.uk