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Wednesday Jun 25, 2008

Who can stop the violence?

Next week Channel 4 launches a new series of programmes called Disarming Britain. The cynic in me says that they are “cashing in” on a series issue; but I also passionately believe that talking about what is happening is a huge part of the solving the problem. And it is a problem: 15 young people have been died as a result of gun or knife violence since the start of the year.

Last night on the train home I listened to the BBC Radio Five Live Simon Mayo interview with Barry and Margaret Mizen, the parents of Jimmy Mizen who was killed last month on his 16^th birthday. It was the most humbling piece of audio I’ve heard in a very long time. Sadly it’s no longer available as a podcast, but it should be heard by any young person before they choose to carry a knife or gun.

I hope that Disarming Britain does what no-one else really seems to be doing; and talking to the young people affected by the violence. Too much of what I’ve seen and read in the papers is from commentators staring over their walls and looking in to the estates rather than from the people who are actually living with gang violence around them.

The Disarming Britain promo is very impressive, as a piece of film. Whether the series will make a difference is another matter.

Posted by Olly ( 11:01 AM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Friday May 30, 2008

Two steps forward, how many back?

We're all fascinated by this story in a local paper in South London on a council spending £15k to replace a few steps. The reason has nothing to do with safety; it's because nearby residents don't like the fact that young people sit on them.

The council has decided to spend time, effort and money to remove the steps and make it as uncomfortable as possible for young people to hang around. They are even proposing not to install a handrail so teenagers can't lean against anything.

In their defence the council says the work is part of a package of improvements that also include trying to make a local park safer so that young people have somewhere else to go.

Even so, it does seem like a bit of a drastic measure. And as many of the comments have pointed out, the issue is not that young people are hanging out there – it's that there is a small number who are causing problems.

It's great to see a number of young people taking up the issue and we'll be watching to see what happens.

Who thought concrete steps could be so fascinating...

Posted by Olly ( 2:02 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Friday Apr 18, 2008

Chat to the peelers

On Wednesday 23rd April, 7-8pm, Commander Rod Jarman will be chatting live about policing in London and Stop and Search.

Rod is a senior officer within the Metropolitan Police Service with specific responsibilities for the eight Boroughs in North West London, Stop and Search, Safer Neighbourhoods and more.

Rod became the Borough Commander in Southwark in 1999. During this time he led the community and long-term response to the murder of Damilola Taylor; a number of multi-agency initiatives tackling hate crime and supporting young people.

If you'd like to ask questions about policing in London, stop and search, or anything else related to Rod's work then join us next wednesday in our chat room.

Posted by Helen ( 10:03 AM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Wednesday Oct 31, 2007

Write to them, hear from them

The older I get, the more I find myself banging on about things that annoy me about my community. Working at TheSite.org and managing the Choose Action section makes me more than aware of all the ways you can get your voice heard by the movers and shakers who can actually make changes in the community. But have I ever bothered to speak up? No.

Well, not until this week anyway...

I live in a part of London that the underground forgot, so have to rely on the overground rail network to get around. It's generally quite good, but is always packed at peak times and could always do with a few extra trains every hour. So when I heard that there are plans to reduce the number of trains from my station I was naturally pretty peeved about it.

It wasn't going to be easy but I was going to have to get off my arse and tell my local MPs and councillors what I thought.

OK, that's a complete lie. It was, in fact, extremely easy and went something like this:

Visit Write to Them
Type in my postcode to get a list of MPs and councillors in my area
Type my message and click 'send'
Confirm I want to send my message via an email I'm sent
Sit back and pat myself on the back for a job well done

Aah! Now I can forget all about it knowing I've done my bit...

Wrong again – within two hours I get a personal reply back from one of the three councillors I wrote to. He tells me how concerned he is about the issue and what his team are doing to raise awareness about it. I'm amazed – the most I expected was a standard reply saying, 'Thanks for your email, we'll read it and then ignore it until you forget you ever sent it'. An hour later, still trying to recover from the shock of my councillor's efficiency, I get another email from a different one! Again, it's personal and again, she agrees with my concerns.

What's the world coming to? Helpful web services, helpful councillors, the next thing I know they'll be more trains running from my station. I can dream...

Posted by Hannah ( 5:34 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Wednesday Sep 26, 2007

Whistle while you work

Hi everyone,

Exciting news - we've just added a fantastic new area to one of our most impressive services.

askTheSite has been going for a few years now, providing free confidential advice on sex, drugs, relationships, legal issues, health and more.

The feedback we've had certain shows how useful people have found the service up till now -

'I'm am amazed at how helpful this has been.'

'I feel much better. I will recommend your site to others. Thanks so much!!'

'It was a very good reply, I felt as if someone were actually speaking to me. I'll come here whenever I've got questions to be answered.'

Well now there's some good news - for the first time askTheSite is now able to answer questions about work and study issues. So any bother about Uni? Any issues about homework? Want advice on dealing with problems at work? Our experts will be available to answer any question within three working days.

So feel free take a look at the archive of questions that have been answered already and if you ever need to just head on over and ask a question.

And just to show how comprehensive askTheSite is these days you can all now ask questions on -

Drugs & Alcohol
General Health
Housing
Legal & Rights issues
Mental Health
Money
Relationships
Sexual Health
Work & Study

So basically everything other than the answers to the crossword (though we've had people try that as well )

Okay dokey - spam over and feel free to let us know what you think of the service.

Posted by Jim ( 10:38 AM ) Link to this post | Comments[1]

Tuesday Sep 25, 2007

Is there any such thing as a free mobile deal?

Want to get loads of free minutes and texts every month? If you can cope with being bombarded with advertising then a new service called Blyk could be just your thing.

In exchange for 217 texts and 43 minutes a month you'll get sent up to six branded messages each day. Beyond that you can top up at 10p a text or 15p a minute.

On one hand it sounds like a plum deal. You're skint, you need to use a mobile and, really, what harm can six targeted messages each day do? If you sign up, you understand the terms, the corporates get to reach a notoriously difficult group, and everyone's happy.

On the other, I can't help but see this as exploitation. Blyk openly says it's targeting universities to get people to join and we all know how hard-up students are now the top-up fees are in force. Is this really such a good deal? Look at some of the mobile deals that are around nowadays, and think about how much you use your mobile each month – 43 minutes a month doesn't exactly cut the mustard. One long phone call and it's all gone.

Plus, I'm sure if you work out the equivalent ad spend it would cost the likes L'Oreal or STA to directly reach this many young people, it would equate to a great deal more than a few free phone minutes each month. And they've got a guarantee that the audience will see the ad – even if they just delete it – it's a much more captive audience than a traditional ad placed in a magazine or web banner. I can't help but feel that the big boys have more to gain here.

I guess it's got me so wound-up because it's the exact opposite approach we took with TheSite.org on mobile. Like these advertisers, we want as many of you to see our content as possible, but not so we can benefit – so you can. We figured that loads of 16-25 year-olds have better access to mobiles than a computer, so by creating a special site with mobile-friendly articles and services, we hope that more young people will get the help they need. Oh yeah – it's at our expense too

Maybe I'm over-reacting? Will you be signing up for a Blyk sim? I guess the proof will be in the popularity...

Posted by Hannah ( 3:23 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Wednesday Aug 15, 2007

Talent on TheSite.org

I've always had a suspicion that you lot were a talented bunch, but you've really proved it in TheSite.org Towers exhibits competition. There have been some fabulous entries and if you don't fancy trawling through the whole thread on the discussion boards then you can visit the Flickr set and watch a slideshow of them. You've still got plenty of time to get your entries in - deadline 31st August.

Last week we confirmed the runner-up prizes which you can see here. These are courtesy of www.logic3.com. We can now reveal that four star winners will not only have their images printed to a professional standard and displayed at TheSite.org towers for a year, but they will also receive a block image containing their own photography (see image for example) from our friends at learn to dream - the company printing the images for the open evening.

The star winners will also be invited to enjoy drinks and nibbles at the Towers (date to be announced) while showing off their work to other guests. Some of the runners-up will also have images printed for display in the offices, which will of course be credited to them.

It's all very exciting

Posted by Helen ( 4:18 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Thursday Jul 12, 2007

Get the respect you deserve!

Our regular users will be aware the Respect campaign that's been run by YouthNet (the charity behind TheSite.org) and the British Youth Council. The campaign itself has been about getting young people the respect they deserve, especially from those who report about the behaviour of young people.

The campaign has now marched all the way to Parliament and yesterday Dawn Butler tabled an Early Day Motion that allows MPs to show their support for the campaign.

Here's the text of EDM 1885:

"...acknowledges that only a small minority of young people are antisocial; believes that the media does not give young people enough recognition for the positive things they do; and urges Hon. Members to ensure young people's views are represented in public debate by creating opportunities for their input such as holding youth surgeries and visiting schools, colleges and universities"

So, what can you do?

Get over to this site and ask... no, TELL your local MP to sign up for EDA 1885. Get your friends and family - to also contact their MPs. The more MPs we have signing up to it, the more effective the campaign can be.

You can also support the campaign if you're on Facebook by joining the Respect Group,

Posted by Jim ( 5:38 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Tuesday Jul 03, 2007

Virtual volunteering

Embarrassing as it is, I have to admit that I'm lazy when it comes to volunteering. I can see all the reasons to do it: make a difference to someone else's life or cause (and consequently give yourself a big self-satisfied pat on the back); meet new people; do something different to the usual nine-to-five routine. Hell, I might even learn something new to put on my CV. But still I haven't got off my arse and started doing anything.

I can't be the only one who only ever dreams of living an altruistic life - where I happily skip off to volunteer after work, returning home with a warm fuzzy feeling inside – can I?

If the latest volunteering movement is anything to go by, probably not. It's called 'Virtual Volunteering' (and also goes by names like online activism and cyber service), and it's all about volunteering from the comfort of your own computer. Ideal for lazy asses like me.

Here at YouthNet (the charity behind TheSite.org), we've been working with virtual volunteers for the past few years. We have volunteers helping us moderate the discussion boards, write articles, answer askTheSite questions and proofread content. As a charity, there's no way we could pay all these people, so there's no doubt that the contribution they're making to our services is invaluable.

And now lots of other organisations are cottoning on. As the internet becomes a more powerful means of communicating, charities increasingly need people to help them improve their online presence. The good news for the volunteer is that you no longer have to turn up at an agreed time and place and give a certain number of hours. Volunteer virtually and you can fit the work in anytime, any place (providing you can log on).

We're so enthusiastic about this concept that we've joined forces with some other organisations to promote it on TheSite.org. If you reckon you could get into virtual volunteering, check out the kind of opportunities that are available on our search. There are loads of opportunities to choose from - you could be a website assistant, campaigner, an illustrator or a marketing assistant. If you're still worried about making a commitment, why not take a few minutes to put your name to some campaigns you care about? In our Action Centre we've dug out all the latest e-petitions and campaigns so you can make a difference to saving the shark, climate change, water poverty and oil drilling in the Amazon without any commitment.

Looks like my excuses are running out fast...

Posted by Hannah ( 2:04 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Friday Jun 29, 2007

New frock!

The observant among you, and everyone else reading this on the homepage, may realise we've had another play with our front end. We're hoping that the homepage will get across just how much content we have on TheSite.org, and help highlight some of the spanking new content we've got for you.

The most obvious change is the new highlights box - which is a return to the way we used to present new, important, fun or fabulous content. We've got a bank of about 20 articles and three are randomly pulled out every time you visit the page. However, if you're dying to see everything we've highlighted then you can visit the following page to see everything -

http://www.thesite.org/view?=highlights

Other changes include the RSS feeds for each of the six main sections - these pull out the three newest articles for each section and replace the text descriptions of the content areas. To be honest, see the same description on the homepage for a couple of years had started to get pretty old, and directly linking to articles seemed to reflect the depth of our content between than we ever could with a couple of static lines.

If you're craving even more RSS updates do have a look at our Pick and mix page. It's a complete breakdown of all our feeds including our blog, new content, podcasts and new threads on the discussion board.

We've also made some changes to the right hand side of all of our pages, what we call the bolt-ons. Most of the changes put people here to sleep, let alone a punter, so I won't bore you with it - needless to say the biggest change is that the Need help now? box no longer looks like a 1970's railcard.

And the blog is the last big change we've made, bringing it onto the homepage to make it easier to get to, and provide you with easy access to what's new and fun at TheSite.org towers.

So hope you like it, feel free to comment here and tell us what you think, or head over to the thread about the refit. If you want to check out how it looked before (the best design is always about subtle changes...) then check out the Google cache.

And if you really, really want to know all the changes we've made then check out the full development documentation for the homepage revision.

Well. that's that, another redesign finished. Now time to get started on the next one

Posted by Jim ( 4:08 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Friday May 25, 2007

Spot the difference...

Seems like only a few weeks ago that we last redesigned TheSite.org. Now that's either a sign of how old I am or how tired I am, because it's actually been a few years now. Since then we've added piles of new content, from quizzes to the new look community, to this little ol' blog here, with a lot more to come. What we haven't done so far is address the main homepage of TheSite.org.

Homepage changes are always tricky, for everything you gain by changing one thing, you risk losing something else - and there's always a demand to make major changes and go ahead with a full redesign. Since we're looking at a full redesign a little bit further in the future we've decided to actually grapple with the current design and see what we could improve.

Given all that I thought I'd drop a post here and let you know how to get a sneak peak at the changes we're planning to make, which hopefully will improve your experience of the website and get you to both what you need, and what you'll like.

So if you're interested (go on, I know you are really) then head on over to the thread about the new homepage and tell us what you think of our plans. And please, please... be fucking brutal, nothing wrong with tearing something apart to make us certain about what we're doing.

Posted by Jim ( 3:40 PM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Monday Apr 30, 2007

Help out the Science Council and win an ipod

The Science Council are developing a brand new website for young people. The website will be a place where young people go to find out about the interesting opportunities that studying science can offer. So, the first thing they need to do is choose a name for the new site. They've developed 6 alternative names and they need your help to choose a winner. 10 lucky voters will win an Ipod.

It's a nice survey, and there's a good chance to win, so we thought we'd let you know about it.

You can vote at www.sciencevote.co.uk.

Posted by Jim ( 11:27 AM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Thursday Apr 26, 2007

Thursday surgery

Tonight from 7-8pm, full-time GP Dr Keith Hopcroft will be live in the chat room to answer your health queries.

Keith is a regular columnist and contributor to The Sun and The Times newspaper; as well as being a medical adviser to mansized.co.uk and to Doctor and GP Update magazines.

If you don't think you'll make the chat, feel free to submit a question in advance - you can leave a comment here or in the thread on the discussion boards.

Posted by Helen ( 11:32 AM ) Link to this post | Comments[0]

Friday Mar 02, 2007