Cornwall Link - Progress Report

Cornwall Link Progress report 2018

The success of the Cornwall Link continues to grow. Our data team has put together some statistics showing; that for 8 of the 11 months recorded this year, the site has received over 1000 new visitors. This is unusually high for a site so young and a great testament to its value and reach in the community. Check out the full statistics here:

Staff & Volunteers:

We continue to recruit volunteers and training has been booked in the new year for Patient Participation Groups in East Cornwall and Stennack, staff at GP surgeries in Kerrier and Social Prescribing Link workers across the County. Excitingly, volunteers are also coming to us directly via our recruitment adverts in Do-it.org, Age UK Cornwall websites and community venues.

Volunteers are our greatest asset, supporting the Link with their time, skills, knowledge and feedback. One of our Volunteers has been integral in sharing his extensive IT knowledge to guide improvements to the site, making the user experience even better. Of course, Volunteers are also vital in helping us to continue growing the number of listings on the link and keeping existing listings up to date. We hope that the recruitment of new volunteers in the New Year will help us push through the 1000 listings mark.

Lee Davies and Emily Taylor have also been busy attending various events across the County. We are seeing more and more appetite for Cornwall link and its potential to aid individuals and support groups. We have seen requests to speak at events go up and have had some great feedback which will ensure constant improvement. We have now come up with some 'must-haves' and 'wants' to improve the functionality of the site. In response to this list, we are working with the Made Open team to come up with solutions including:

- a more intelligent search function

- improved permission levels for volunteers and

- improved access to the Guided Conversation.

The ability to adapt and develop based on user feedback has been a great asset to us in developing Cornwall Link. Feedback from users who recognise that their suggestions have been listened to has been extremely positive.

The Future:

Looking to the future, Emily is ready to launch ‘Come and see Cornwall Link’ drop-ins in Liskeard and Camborne with the hope that the first of these will take place by mid-January. In the early New Year, we will provide training to the GP practices and volunteers and continue to develop the connections made this year.

With improved search function and access to the Guided Conversation we expect interest in and usage of the Cornwall Link to continue to rise. We are hoping for another fantastic year and cannot wait for 2019 to start!

Check out the full site here Cornwall Link

If you want to find out more about Cornwall Link, Volunteer with us or have a question, please contact email@ageukcornwall.org.uk