WCIT Charity Review Vol. 2 | Page 3

Page 3 ABILITYNET IT4 COMMUNITIES AbilityNet iT4Communities (iT4C) is a strategic partner of the WCIT Charity and the leading national volunteering programme for IT professionals giving pro bono help to charities. It is a key source of skills to leverage our charity funds and help from iT4C can make a big difference. We referred 12 charities in 2013 and gave £7,740 to contribute to their programme of 255 volunteer projects for 159 charities, which included... R esearch Autism provides information about interventions available to people with autism through their website www.researchautism.net. Carmen King, a parent of a child with autism, recently posted, "This website is a gem for parents looking for up-to-date, practical information on where to start tackling autism ... an amazing resource that will help many families navigate through the minefield of information available." An iT4C volunteer integrated an online interface for a new Friendship Scheme which went on to raise over £10,000. This support was further leveraged by additional investment in the charity when the Garfield Weston Foundation gave a large grant to build on the success of the Friendship Scheme. arch into Autism earchlusively dedicated to rese Res ity exc UK char ns in autism tio interven Headway B lack Countr y Dedicated to supporting and improv injury in g life after b rain H eadway Black Country is a small but growing charity dedicated to supporting brain injury survivors, their carers and families. With an income of less than £200,000 per annum the charity manages to work with over 40 brain injury survivors each week and support about 250 carers/ family members each year. es renians d their liv ventrymCy ering people to rebuil Co pow nd e Helping a Headway Black Country uses IT in rehabilitation and needed to extend their use of technology to increase operational efficiency. However, every £1 spent on systems meant less care for sufferers and their families. They had to resolve immediate operational issues to give a firm base for future IT deployment. Five days of consultancy from an iT4C volunteer was enough to create a simple IT Strategy, enabling more efficient working and facilitating the delivery of rehabilitation and support at a range of locations, saving valu able money. Tracey realised she needed to make oventry Cyrenians help homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged people to changes if she wanted to get her son rebuild their lives and live as independently as possible. They back...she is now re-engaged in education support around 1,000 people every year, such as Tracy, who was asked to leave home when she was 16. Around her 18th birthday and has her own tenancy... Tracy realised that she needed to start to make changes if she wanted to get her son back and keep her unborn baby and is now re-engaged in education and has her own tenancy. C The charity needed a secure and cost-effective way of recording donations, managing data and events. An iT4C volunteer implemented CiviCRM, a web-based piece of software for constituency relationship management. The saving of £4,000, which would have been needed for a commercial CRM system, is enough to help another two homeless people. WCIT CHARITY REVIEW