Stiperstones Community Broadplace Stiperstones Inn Stiperstones Minsterley Shropshire SY5 OLZ Website: www.stiperstones.co.uk/inn View more Stiperstones Broadplace details here Download the BBC Radio Shropshire Interview, February 2005 here

Background The Broadband Connection What was available before the Broadplace? Changes brought about through the Broadplace Activities noted so far Other Activities Added Value Impact Contact details for more information

Background

The Stiperstones Inn www.stiperstones.co.uk/inn is a fine Shropshire pub situated in a very remote part of West Shropshire right up in the hills. It sits in the heart of a vibrant community which is mutually supportive and enjoys a huge social engagement with everyone who lives there. Population in the Stiperstones and Snailbeach village is approximately 400 but this does include the two hamlets of Tankerville and Pennerley which links closely to the main community.

In September 2004 the pub became one of the 13 established Broadplaces in the Switch on Shropshire project. Switch on Shropshire is managed by Shropshire County Council on behalf of the Shropshire Partnership, and is funded through Objective 2 / Rural Regeneration Zone (RRZ) money to support provision of access to Broadband in eligible rural areas of Shropshire.

The project has two strands, a Business Strand and a Community Strand, and the Stiperstones Broadplace is benefitting under the latter.

The Community Strand can provide 100% funding to cover installation and the on going cost of a Broadband Connection (ADSL, Satellite or other as appropriate) for two years plus cabling or wireless technology to maximise the access to the broadband service in the premises.

In addition it provides hardware including up to 6 computers (PCs or Laptops), laserjet printer, scanner, digital camera, digital projector, furniture, security, and a range of software which is purchased in close consultation with the community. Each Broadplace benefits from the support of two full-time technicians, and access to the Community ICT Adviser who works with them to develop their Broadplace and its activities.

Stiperstones Inn which is home to the Stiperstones Community Broadplace

The target venues are always "Centres of Community" ranging from Village Halls and Community Centres to Pubs, Village shops and Teashops. The location of the Broadplace is always agreed in consultation with the community and they decide where is the most appropriate to meet their ICT needs. The Broadplaces have an informal membership element for their community who are encouraged to take ownership of the Broadplace and develop it to suit the needs of their local community. In the case of Stiperstones and Snailbeach community, they decided that the pub would be a better venue than the village hall because they would have much greater access to the facilities through the goodwill of the landlords Lara Sproson and Phil Jones.

The Broadband Connection

The Stiperstones Inn broadband connection is via satellite and provides a 512K download and 128K upload installation with a wireless network installed over the whole building. Storage for local groups is provided if required. Pictured right are some of the community users on the laptops provided with Switch on Shropshire funding. Image courtesy of Stiperstones Inn

What was available before the Broadplace?

The BT Exchange servicing Snailbeach and Stiperstones, is situated in Minsterley a village some distance from the community, and when the project first met with the community there was no indication that ADSL would reach the village. The only broadband access for households was through the dial up service which was causing considerable frustration for householders and businesses in the community. A dedicated Broadband connection in the Primary School provided pupils with a high speed service but this was restricted to the school. Radio link off a BT metro circuit (leased line).

The Stiperstones Inn had hosted a PC and printer from the STIAG (Shropshire and Telford Information Advice and Guidance Service) through some funding from Connexions. It was hoped that this would give the community better access to online information but unfortunately the way that it operated did not appeal to the community and the pub asked STIAG to remove the kit as it was unused.

The community has a number of very active groups, societies and organisations, as well as a diverse range of individuals who give their time to support local ventures. Courses have always run in the village hall through the local FE College, and there have always been a range of activities and social functions, many associated with the Methodist Chapel, Women's Institute, Brass Band, Accoustic Singers, Primary School, various children's groups etc. Pictured left are members of the Stiperstones Brass Band. Image courtesy of Stiperstones Community website

However, there was considerable frustration with the lack of highspeed internet access to support these various groups and activities, and in particular, participants on IT courses wanted to be able to learn more about how to use the Internet and Email effectively and safely.

Changes brought about through the Broadplace

The community has wholeheartedly embraced the concept of the Broadplace. Although it is based in the pub and overseen by Lara and Phil, the Landlords, it is quite clear that it is owned by the whole community and is for them to use as they wish. A Broadplace Steering Group has been set up and is being formally adopted with its own bank account and management structure. There is an intention to develop income streams to support the long-term sustainability of the Broadplace after Switch on Shropshire's funding ends. Pictured right are: Lara Sproson, Landlord; Geoff Sproson; Phil Jones, Landlord; Sheila Hughes, Chair of the Steering Group and Val Lewis, Switch on Shropshire Community ICT Adviser

Activities noted so far

The pub hosts a "Come and Learn Anything You Like in the Cocktail Bar" evening once a week. Anyone can pop in and log on and learn how to do anything from create a website, write a letter, send an email, make a poster, so their shopping online, surf the web, play games. All with a drink and some social banter thrown in for good measure. The support of the landlords and steering group members makes all this possible. The laptops can be set up at any time, with security locks, anywhere in the pub and beer garden and are requested regularly for:

surfing the internet emailing and MSN Messenger – one member of the community regularly speaks to family and friends who live overseas via the broadband set up and webcam facility provided social information sessions when a group of friends may look for holidays/social outings together over a drink Weekly grocery shop – one young mum with 4 children goes in every week to order her shopping online – it saves her time and stress from taking children with her to the supermarket Research for university students needing to access information when they are home Business use – one local businessman is seriously wondering whether to bother with his own broadband connection when it becomes available in the village – he enjoys the social atmosphere and the chance to meet people while he emails, which he misses as a sole trader working from home as office Games sessions for younger users who can use the Family Room to access the IT facilities. A rigorous filtering system is installed to protect their access Travelling businessmen, local walkers and residents staying at the Inn are able to access the wireless network, for a small fee, to download and send emails. The income goes towards the local community's maintenance costs such as paper and cartridges.

Other Activities

The Digital Camera has already been used to create a Feature Film, presented in Power Point which was premiered, to rave reviews, at the local Arts Festival in the village of Snailbeach. This was based on a story written by a professional storyteller who lives in the community and filmed and edited with the help of Switch on Shropshire kit and the goodwill of Phil Jones, Landlord of the pub All the kit is regularly shipped down to the village hall to support other events - during October Half Term supported all sorts of activities for the children based around Halloween which were then displayed and demonstrated at the Arts Festival Music Composition Software is being studied and explored by both the Brass Band and various Accoustic singers in the community, and it is hoped that this will result in some original pieces of music being created and downstreamed via the Broadband link A Community Calendar has been designed and produced using the technology provided.

The consultation process initiated by Switch on Shropshire in the community resulted in some quite radical requests for kit to support community access to IT. This has included some:

Music Editing Software and a midi keyboard - the ultimate aim of the brass band is to jam live on line with other musicians! Family History software – there is a lot of interest in this in every Broadplace community Garden Design Software – for those people who see computers as having no relevance to them Games software for youngsters to be involved and brought into the activities in the pub Digital Photography software Pictured left are two of the young community Broadplace users with one of the laptops provided with Switch on Shropshire funding.

Added Value

Switch on Shropshire recognises that the long term sustainability of the Broadplaces after funding ends, is key to the success of the programme.

With this in mind the Community ICT Advisor who works closely with the community to make the Broadplace successful, is tasked with identifying sources of funding and potential partnerships which can support them long term. Examples of the types of activities and opportunities include:

Links with LANTRA (Landbased Industry Training Organisation) has enabled the offer of access to the Click to Learn Website, the virtual web access to Learndirect Courses. As referral centres for the Click to Learn Website, Broadplaces, if they wish can encourage local members to consider enrolling for an online learning opportunity, and, as a result, the Broadplace itself will receive a referral fee which will support their costs Partnerships with organisations such as CAB to provide remote interview services via a weblink for clients in remote areas will support social inclusion in rural areas Links with local FE Providers who can access the wireless technology to support delivery of both IT and non-related courses is proving to be of interest to the tutors and will support increased access to learning opportunities in rural areas Talks are under way with British Cattle Movement Service to see if a partnership can be established to train local volunteers from the Broadplace community to support local farmers in registering cattle on line rather than by post. This would speed up the service for farmers, improve the information trail for BCMS and allow a "Try before you buy" service for local farmers to test the speed and reliability of the online system before investing money in their own technology at home. A small fee would be payable by BCMS to support the provision of this service in local communities Discussions are under way with other services such as Family Learning Unit, Adult and Community Learning, Care Development Teams, Youth Service to explore how access to the Broadplaces could support the delivery of their services in remote rural locations and support social inclusion.

Impact

Number of users per month - In the first two months of recorded data the Stiperstones Broadplace has recorded 159 and 143 users respectively which, in a community of a little over 400 people is a significant amount of use.

Pub Landlords Lara Sproson and Phil Jones, who are wholly supportive of this community broadplace and host the equipment on the community's behalf said "This project has brought our community into the 21st Century and has allowed IT to invade, in a positive way, areas of our community's social life that we would never have dreamed was possible. Obviously having the hardware as well as the Broadband connection has been particularly valuable for us because of the way that hardware supports access in our community." Pictured right is Phil Jones, Landlord helping one of the many Broadplace users

	Phil added that "It has been particularly valuable for us to have the support of the Switch on Shropshire Team, both from the technical point of view and for community development, and although the ideas have come from us, they have been supportive in encouraging us to have a go and explore what the technology can do."
	Lara said "I think we may have surprised them sometimes, but we are having fun exploring how broadband can be used in a community and that's the way you should be able to look at this technology. We would never, as a community, have been able to afford to place this sort of opportunity here, and it's giving us the chance to try out things that people in more urban areas just take for granted".

Switch on Shropshire contact details for more information

Project Manager	Paul Nash email: paul.nash@shropshire-cc.gov.uk
Community IT Advisor	Val Lewis email: val.lewis@shropshire-rcc.org.uk
Address	Switch on Shropshire Project Shropshire County Council Shirehall Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 6ND
Contact Tel No:	01743 252020

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