History
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- Created on Wednesday, 03 March 2010 15:30
The Community IT Academy (CITA) was developed by John Sadler and Peter Hill and officially launched in September 2003, by the then Minister for Industrial Affairs, Stephen Timms.
CITA started by training long-term unemployed people to become IT technicians and enjoyed considerable success. This allowed almost 90% of the trainees to attain a recognised IT qualification and over 80% to moving into work or further training.
As a result of this work CITA has evolved into an organisation aiming to meet the needs of the voluntary sector in the North East of England and offer a wide range of IT related services and fully funded projects.
Look at our "Past Projects" section to see details of completed work undertaken with the voluntary sector.
Finding us
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- Created on Monday, 14 July 2008 10:00
We are based at i8 (formerly called the Lynnwood Business Centre) in the West End of Newcastle, simply head for the Newcastle General Hospital. Opposite the hospital there is a bowling alley. If you are heading towards the city take the right hand turn immediately after the bowling alley (immediately before if coming from the city).
You will pass a timber yard on your left (20 m) and come to a crossroads, go straight over and you will see some metal gates, this is the entrance to the centre's car park.
About us
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- Created on Friday, 04 April 2008 08:21
CITA provides high quality, affordable IT service, training and support to organisations in the North East of England. CITA is a registered charity and focusses primarily on supporting voluntary and community organisations, where it has the skills and experience to meet their specific needs.
CITA is an active member of the local and regional voluntary sector.
Our aim is to help people with IT and leave them stronger as a result.
We are based close to the centre of Newcastle.
We offer the following services tailored to the needs of individuals and the wider voluntary sector:
- Training
- Computer Repairs
- IT based advice and support
- Web Design
- Technical support
We are a membership organisation and offer discounts and other benefits to our members.
CITA is both a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee and operates as a social enterprise.
We also offer funded projects such as Circuit Riding subject to status and criteria.
Read our: Annual Report 2010 (PDF 520kB)
"One word would explain my experience with CITA 'Very Pleasant'.
We knew of CITA way before we used their services and when we were looking for IT support to develop our new website CITA came highly recommended. CITA keep itself updated on any funding which can help their clients this was a great help to us. We have used CITA services for about three years now and we are very happy with their services. CITA’s team is genuinely pleasant, honest and professional team."
Richard MacLeod, BECON
Voluntary Sector Work
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- Created on Wednesday, 03 March 2010 15:32
CITA have worked with the following;
- VODA
- Moving On
- Mind in Gateshead
- SEARCH
- Regional Refugee Forum
Sub-Regional ICT Champion
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- Created on Thursday, 29 January 2009 16:27
CITA have been invited by the Tyne & Wear Insfrastructure Consortium (TWIC) to undertake the role of Sub-Regional ICT Champion.
The current Regional ICT Champion, Andrew Samuel (Sam) has delegated a part of his role to the sub-regions.
Northumberland, Teesside and Durham have also appointed sub-regional ICT Champions.
Part of the 3 year role is to undertake a "mapping and gapping" exercise for the current ICT provision within the local sector.
The main thrust of the role is to support 2nd tier VCOs to be better able to advise and serve front line groups in terms of IT.
If you want to contribute in this or other regions please contact us.
Virtual Newcastle Training 2005/06
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- Created on Wednesday, 30 April 2008 13:45
In association with Virtual Newcastle CITA staff delivered "1st Aid for PC" training to 12 voluntary groups during late 2005 and early 2006.
The training forms the basis of our current offering and was intended on allowing an already competent user to be able to better manange and maintain their office computer systems - the equivalent to basic car maintenance (checking the oil and water, fault finding, good practice).
Delivered in Windows 2000 and XP, now available for Vista, the courses were met with universal appreciation and still allow groups to fault find their printers, internet connections and operate more effective backing up systems.
This project started CITA's involvement with the wider sector and led to the development of the Circuit Rider project.
PC Recycling Scheme 2004-06
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- Created on Wednesday, 30 April 2008 13:31
As a result of needing to have practical experience for our trainees CITA negotiated with Newcastle City Council to have exclusive access to their redundant IT equipment.
It was our intention to refurbish the PCs and sell them on to the local voluntary sector at low cost.
The project developed into a wider scheme with an agreement with North Tyneside Council and numerous commercial clients.
The scheme operated very successfully throughout the running of the ILM scheme but proved unsustainable in the longer term as the prices of new PCs continues to fall and the costs of recycling increase.
The project ceased operations in February 2006.
ILM Training 2003-2006
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- Created on Tuesday, 29 April 2008 15:34
CITAs roots lie in training. In September 2003 we began by offering technical training to long term unemployed people from nominated areas of Newcastle.
The scheme used the ILM (Intermediate Labour Market) model, this allowed us to pay our trainees whilst we trained them.
Lewis Atkinson and Dave Nattrass started the Academy with a team of 6 trainees, who set the standard for the project, at the Lynnwood Business Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Over the next two and a half years we trained 30 people and maintained an average of over 90% success in helping them gain internationally recognised IT qualifications. More than 60% went on to full time employment and education as a result of joining the academy.
We had some major successes and still keep in contact with many of the students to this day.
The project provided a vehicle to develop other projects around the IT theme and remains the base line for the entire organisation.
"My name is David de Garis, I am thirty seven years old. I had been on Incapacity Benefit for four and a half years; I was suffering from stress and anxiety and had lost a lot of confidence in myself and in society.
I was lucky enough to see a notice advertising the Community IT Academy; I applied and managed to get on the course to become a trainee IT technician. Before starting the course, I had little or no structure in my life; after only a few weeks on the course, my confidence started to grow and my sleeping patterns improved dramatically. I started to interact with the other trainees on the course and my overall wellbeing improved.
In the six months that I was a trainee, I passed both A+ examinations and I am now a qualified PC technician; I also attained the European Computer Driving Licence this gives me an understanding of Microsoft Office Applications.
I then started working for the Community IT Academy for two or three days a week as technical support.
This went on for about twelve weeks, I was then offered a full time contract and I am now teaching the new intake of trainees to be IT technicians. I have also started a one year City and Guilds teaching course at Newcastle College, this will allow me to teach in further education establishments.
I am supplementing this learning with courses in teaching basic Maths and English through Learndirect. After I complete these courses, I will be qualified to teach IT and to help people with learning difficulties.
My life has completely turned around in one year, from being stressed and anxious with little self confidence, to being relaxed and productive with a healthy outlook on life. I would never have been able to accomplish this without the Community IT Academy and the good work that they do."
David de GarisDavid has since moved on and is enjoying a telephone support role based in Harrogate.
I would like to thank the Community IT Academy for all their hard work and dedication to the IT Technician course I took part in. I am currently employed for a market research company as part of the ICT support team, a demanding job which involves working on many different IT aspects; maintaining networks and hardware, to developing websites, the list goes on. Thanks to the qualifications I achieved through CITA and most importantly the confidence I gained, I feel I have taken the first steps to a long and happy career in the IT industry."
Brian DixonPrior to joining the ILM programme, Brian had been unemployed for two years and was looking for a change in career path. Brian was one of most successful ILMs attaining both A+ and Network+ certification. He proved himself to be a very capable IT technician and, as a result of his retail background, has good customer relations skills. Brian also worked with us in developing the training scheme and providing technical backup for the CITAS project prior to securing his current role.
"My name is Graeme Wood I was unemployed for two years before joining CITA. Since leaving I have progressed into a career at St Thomas More R.C. High School in North Shields as a network technician. By participating in the courses available through CITA I have managed to gain valuable experience which would not have been available to me if I had studied these courses at university or privately, also I believe that the experience I gained whilst training helped me secure my job at the school.
I spent 10 months at CITA and gained a CompTIA A+ qualification which has helped me to start a career doing something which I enjoy and will hopefully excel at in later in life. I am looking forward to gaining even more qualifications as time passes, I am already learning more about networking and look forward to taking steps to improve my knowledge further. CITA helped me unlock my potential after being unemployed for so long, I now have a new lease of life, a career which I enjoy and a steady income for the first time in years."
Graeme Wood"I am Darren Levitt. Due to a road traffic accident I sustained injuries that forced me to retrain in a different vocation, having been a time served Toolmaker in precision engineering. Very little help was given by the “system”, I took it upon myself to enroll at Newcastle College in C.A.D (computer aided design) and P.C repair & maintenance. I passed both courses and am working to gain further higher qualifications in the subjects, I was offered a chance to study and gain hands on experience in a working environment at CITA, there I have learned additional skills that the college had not been able to supply."
Darren LevittCRNE - Circuit Riders North East 2008/09
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- Created on Monday, 07 April 2008 08:49
This project has now finished
CITA was successfull in accessing BASIS funding from the Big Lottery Fund in a consortium led by VONNE. The consortium included the Belle Vue centre - Hartlepool, VODA - North Tyneside and The Hendon Hub in Sunderland. The project was called Circuit Riders North East (CRNE) and aimed to provide long term technically based support services.
VODA provided region wide training and a free technical support help line whilst the other partners are offering IT support services within their own sub-region. CITA offered services to groups in the north of County Durham, Tyne & Wear (excluding Sunderland) and areas within Northumberland.
CITA offered the following discounted services:
- Maintenance contracts - Technical Support
- ICT Strategy (Net:Gain)
- Website Design
- Tailored and bespoke training courses
- IT Consultancy*
- Advice on fundraising for IT*
The services were available at a 50% discount. The value of the support was limited to a maximum of £1000 per organisation.
Training was free to CITA contract customers and members, non members could access training at 50% discount.
The services marked with * were funded and hence are provided at no additional cost to VCOs, subject to the £1000 maximum.
The purpose of the grant was to allow small to medium sized groups to access IT services, hence limitations on turnover were applied.
Each group agreed to an IT Healthcheck as a part of the process. Numbers were limited to 10 websites and the first 20 groups that met the above criteria on a first come first served basis.
Change Up
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- Created on Friday, 04 April 2008 08:45
This project has now closed.
The work was undertaken by Peter Hill during 2005/6 and the findings indicate a need within the local (Newcastle) voluntary sector for:
- Web Design services
- Cost Effective Technical Support
- IT Training
- IT Strategy development
- IT Policy development
- Funding for IT resources
As a result of the research CITA has developed training materials aimed at meeting the need for IT strategy and policies within voluntary sector organisations. Contact us to discuss how we might be able to assist your organisation in Strategy and Policy development.