Women's E-Business Support Project

The Women's E-Business Support Project was funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Its objectives were to support women working in small businesses and sole traders to make more effective use of ICTs. Find out more about WEBS within the business section of our site.

ICT Learning for Healthy Communities

This project, funded by Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities, run from October 2004 to July 2005. One aim of this project was to develop new first step ICT learning opportunities which focus on health. A second aim was to increase the resources and skills available in the voluntary and community sector, within regeneration areas of Manchester, for using ICT to promote health related activities to women.

New curricula was developed which take health as a starting point for women to participate in learning which embeds learning about ICT as a basic skill. Health and well-being was used as a starting point to learning about ICTs, in particular the retrieval of health related information from the Internet and other electronic sources and the creation of local health information.

Resources and training was developed in community organisations for multi-language computer use (hardware and software) which widened participation in learning by women who have English as an Additional Language who were excluded from learning.

Community groups and community workers active in areas of health were involved in these activities to build their capacity to develop and deliver learning activities in these areas once involvement in the project has ceased.

REALISE

Routes to Equality: Linking Students and Employers is funded by the European Social Fund (Equal)
Its objectives are employer involvement in courses, raising employer awareness and e-mentoring to increase employability of WEVH students.

netWISE - (Network of Women In Small Enterprises)

netWISE was an ERDF funded initiative aimed at supporting women in small businesses and community enterprises in using ICT's (Information and Communication Technologies).

We co-ordinated various services and events including:

Free one-day training sessions including

- Basic Web Design
- Beginners and Intermediate Database Design
- Introduction to the Internet
- Planning a Web Site for a Small Business
- Making the Most of Email

Women's Business Network

A monthly forum for women in business to network and find out more about what new technology had to offer their companies.
Presentations included e-commerce, web streaming and video conferencing.

On-Line Discussion Group

We published a monthly newsletter through our mailing list and we also had a netWISE discussion group.

Web Site

We intended to develop our web site to include a business section. We planned to include a database of women owned and/or run small businesses as well as useful links and resources.

Individual Advice and Support

We offered consultation and if we didn't have the knowledge needed we aimed to provide a contact who did.
 

WICOP (Training and Computer Access for Women in the Voluntary Sector)

The Women's Information and Community Outreach Project (WICOP) provided help and support to women in voluntary groups to use technology more effectively. As part of this project we ran monthly training courses and a weekly drop-in for women who were workers, volunteers or management committee members in a voluntary organisation.

Also we provided placements in community groups for women with existing computer skills.

Visit the WICOP web site
 

Madge

Between January and July 1998, the MADGE project took place, as part of the Web Publishing for Micro and Small Enterprises project (TMSE Phase 2) funded by ERDF via the Manchester Web Publishing and Teleworking Partnership (MTTP). The project aimed to encourage awareness and use of Multimedia, ICTs and the World Wide Web by women setting up or working in small creative businesses. Activities included:

• A series of workshops for women in small businesses (SMEs) providing support and advice about Web design and publishing
• Provision of drop in access and flexible workspace for women in small businesses including teleworkers
• Continuation and expansion of drop-in access to Internet for community groups and unemployed women
• Production of promotional and innovative Web sites for women's businesses in the cultural sector

Clever - (Continuous Learning for EVERy woman)

In partnership with four other organisations across Europe we worked together on a project to improve access for women to lifelong learning. WEVH hosts the CLEVER website.

Odyssey

Funded by the ESF under the NOW (New Opportunities for Women) Community Initiatives, Odyssey was a three year project, using multimedia technologies in innovative ways to encourage more women to enter training and careers in this sector. Working in partnership with local and transnational organisations, the project aims to share learning and experiences with training providers and women's educators in order to improve women's participation in Information and Communication Technologies and Multimedia.

During the first six months of 1998, a new training course was designed and materials developed, and two groups of women participated in the pilot programme. Our community based local partners (Salford Way and Ladybarn Community Association) were involved in the development and delivery of the course, with the intention that they would be able to continue providing part or the entire course programme after the end of the project.

The course involved the use of an innovative methodology with an unusual combination of technology and group work. Rather than focusing on learning specific work related skills, multimedia skills were developed alongside a personal development programme, culminating in the production of an interactive multimedia CV or personal profile, which each participant took away with her on a CD-ROM. The methodology is therefore ideal for working with women returners enabling them to explore uses of technology in the context of counselling and guidance.

The second part of the project involved the design and development of a multimedia CD-ROM that will encourage a diverse range of opportunities, choices and routes into working life. This will be used to support guidance and advice for women entering careers or further training using ICT's, with positive images and role models of women in these jobs. During 1998, a group of volunteers completed the first version of the CD-ROM. It was then developed and refined, with the final version being launched during 2000.

The development team included a full time research assistant from UMIST and women artists who had completed multimedia courses at the Women's EVH.

Opus

OPUS - Opening up the Information Society. The aim of the OPUS project was to improve women's participation in the Information Society through a better understanding of its impact in their everyday lives, work and training experience.

During 1998, we continued to participate in the European wide OPUS project. We contributed to the development and testing of a new training package consisting of a manual of specially designed and tested exercises to run workshops about the Information Society for women; a CD ROM information and resources tool; an information pack for trainers including a collection of articles on the Information Society and a Web site.

At the Women's EVH we ran a series of one-day workshops for a total of 72 women from the voluntary sector. The workshops included a mixture of hands on Internet skills and discussion about the impact of the Information Society on work and everyday life.

Leonardo

In partnership with IBM and a wide range of women's training agencies across Europe, we developed a new training course aimed at women in the corporate sector to raise their awareness of technology and encourage a positive attitude towards initiating change in their own work environments.

After participating in the research and development of the course structure and materials, we delivered a pilot version of the new course in June and July 1998 to a group of women working in local authorities and the private sector.

This course aims to motivate participants, raising their level of awareness about the Information Society. The intention is that women's career opportunities will be improved by developing a dynamic attitude to technology and by using technology in their work environment.

The course included modules on:

• Implications of the Information Society for the way we work and learn
• Technology and tools familiarisation
• The impact of technology on the working environment Leadership and the role of women Vision and action plan for change

Women's Technology Centre

This major new initiative involved the refurbishment of a building for use as a women's technology centre. Ada House opened on April 28th 2003.

The Women's Technology Centre Development and Capital Projects are supported by Manchester City Council and funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Capital Modernisation Fund and a loan from Community Loan Fund for the NW.

Internet Mentoring Project

The Internet Mentoring Project (IMP) was funded by the Adult and Community Learning Fund (ACLF). It focused on supporting women in refugee communities to use ICTs to access information and communicate with their communities, families and friends. Over 70 refugee and asylum seeking women were involved in the project, which ended in 2004. The project supported women to develop skills in using the Internet and email and then pass these skills onto other women in their communities.Women involved in refugee community groups received support and guidance to put together a personalised learning plan to suit their needs and prior experience. They were then supported through their community groups to pass on their skills through one to one tuition, group tuition, events, whatever is appropriate for their situation.Organisations were supported through the process of providing Internet access to their community, e.g. where and when to provide access, good practice in maintaining equipment, help with providing equipment and telephone costs may also be available.WEVH worked closely with Manchester Refugee Support Network and Electronic Immigration Network on the IMP Project. This project led on to a short project, funded by the Community Learning Chest, to produce and publish a magazine for Refugee Week 2004.