Project summary
 Alston
Moor is one of the smallest Wired-up
Communities areas with just under
2,000 residents mainly in three settlements
- Alston, Garrigill and Nenthead.
It is also the most geographically
isolated, located on the eastern edge
of Cumbria more than twenty miles
from the nearest town. Public transport
links are limited and more than a
quarter of households do not own a
car.
In November 2000, Voluntary Action
Cumbria (VAC) developed the bid for
Wired Up Communities funding in an
effort to harness ICT to support local
economic development, strengthen social
cohesion and provide easier access
to services. Cumbria County Council
agreed to become the accountable body
for the project and with VAC, supported
the project's local management group.
The management group met monthly to
review progress, discuss developments
and define priorities and a consultant
funded by the DfES provided a 'sounding
board' and offered an 'unjaundiced,
objective' view of a variety of issues
confronted by the project at various
times.
 The
project's core staff includes a project
manager, project administrator, ICT
support officer and more recently
an equal opportunities co-ordinator
and a web content manager. The project
also engaged the services of local
freelancers to carry out distinct
pieces of work such as compiling the
broadband information booklet and
assessing the usability of the website.
The project initially focused on
the roll out of the technology to
residents' homes and over 700 PCs
have been delivered (circa 60% of
households). Ongoing negotiations
with the hardware supplier resulted
in local people being trained to install
and provide technical support from
the project's base at Alston town
hall.
The development of a community website
as a local 'community
portal' has been core to the project
reflecting the remoteness of an area
and the difficulty local people have
in trying to access government services.
The CREDITS Centre has been involved
as a local supplier of IT training.
Alston Moor has a 'supersparse' population
which marked it out as an area least
likely to be developed by telecom
suppliers of broadband. In response
to this 'market failure', the project
used its DfES capital grant and worked
with NWDA to develop a radio wireless
broadband network that is now available
to over 400 subscribers and offers
connection speeds up to 10 mbps.
The project has taken considerable
steps to promote equal opportunities,
meeting the needs of the physically
disabled by providing special equipment
such as large type keyboards and foam
wrist rests. From April 2003, the
project is developing a business plan
for Cybermoor Ltd as a community co-operative
and looking to market its expertise
in rural broadband infrastructure
and community portal services.
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