VOLUNTEERS URGENTLY REQUIRED
FOR A COLLECTION in AID of the MS RESEARCH CHARITY
at THE MALL CRIBBS CAUSEWAY near Bristol
on FRIDAY 18^TH and SATURDAY 19^TH JANUARY 2008

The collections will take place all day on both of these days, and if you are able to help for a couple of hours, please contact:

BRIAN PAGINGTON
on Tel: Home 01454 320141
Tel: Mobile 07776 341 601
Please forward this request to anyone you know who might be able to help with these collections.
Thank You

New research on discussion forums run by public bodies is due to be published next month, according to E-Government Bulletin. This week they have an item anticipating this and, while there aren’t very many examples to chose from, does say that “one of the most impressive examples of best practice with online forums singled out for praise in the new research is Highland Council in Scotland’s sub-site entitled thinknet.”

It’s worth a look, although you could hardly call it the most active forum ever (and it probably requires cookies to work). We can talk.

E-Government Bulletin, an email newsletter, reports:

“A programme to link the lowest tier of local government - parish and town councils - and grassroots community and neighbourhood organisations to the Directgov online portal for public services is to be launched in March.”

“This is important because it’s about joining up the whole of the public sector,” Anna Tan, ODPM’s director for the Home and Community Franchise, told E-Government Bulletin. “Imagine your elderly mum lived in Hackney, for example. Wouldn’t it be great if you could go to Directgov and find information about health centres and organisations like Age Concern, as well as neighbourhood centres and contact details for councillors?”

An interesting piece about social firms - social enterprises where at least 25% of workers are disabled or have health problems - in today’s (Scottish) Herald:

New spirit of social enterprise - The Herald