WHEN website problems left the charity Get2gether, which organises social activities in a safe environment for disabled people living in Edinburgh and the Lothians, unable to communicate with its 900 members, they turned to the Scottish Tech Army (STA) for help.
The charity’s events co-ordinator, Mojca Becaj, was amazed at the response. “Wow,” she said, “I am so impressed. This is such a great initiative. Aidan from the Scottish Tech Army is a magician. He fixed our website overnight and offered to help with any other tech problems we might have.”
Aidan Bree, the STA’s “magician”, played down his “relatively straightforward” role. He said: “The initial problem with the website was down to it being hosted in the USA where it was built.
“Everything online was very slow, but it was relatively straightforward to migrate Get2gether’s website to Scotland, where the charity is based. This has resolved many of their issues but I’m also working with them on improving their digital marketing to tie in with their events.”
READ MORE: Furloughed computer staff form tech 'army' to help charities with coronavirus
For Get2gether, it now means that many of people they work with, who don’t have access to a tablet or smartphone, will be able to keep in touch with the charity.
“We’re so grateful to Aidan and the Scottish Tech Army for fixing the website so quickly.
“It’s a small thing but it’s made a big difference to us and the hundreds of people we would usually meet up with, who are now looking for information and able to get in touch with us through our website.”
Before the coronavirus hit and lockdown changed all our lives, Aidan was working with Baillie Gifford in development and operations as a cloud architect, dealing with the components needed for cloud computing.
“I spotted via LinkedIn that the Scottish Tech Army was starting up and thought it was an ideal way to give something back. I always like to keep myself busy,” he said.
If you’re a charity or organisation with a tech problem you want sorted, the Scottish Tech Army is here to help. Just go to our website to tell us more about your project: www.scottishtecharmy.org/take-action
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here