A huge amount of work is required to develop the business case, build awareness amongst the local community, win the support of key players, and fund the detailed feasibility work. All of this needs to be done in order to get to the point where we can put together the required finance to fund the deployment, put together the team, sign up the service providers and customers and all the other things needed to make the thing fly.
This is where you come in. Your support and involvement is crucial in helping to take the entire project forward as quickly and effectively as we would like to.
How You Can Help
There are many ways that you can get involved:
- Create an account on this website. It's free, it will only take a minute of your time, and it will enable us to keep you informed about news and major project developments as we go forward. Further into the project we will be asking people and local businesses to make a commitment to use the service, which will be critically important in proving the viability of the network. Be one of the first by signing up for an account today.
- Join the Colne Valley Fibre Steering Group. Right now we are looking to create a steering group of interested and motivated individuals who can commit some time and energy to help drive the project forward. Ideally you will have some experience in a useful area - maybe in the telecoms or ISP sector, or working on a comparable project elsewhere or in a different field. We're also going to need some legal and financial expertise. Most importantly we are interested in your energy and your enthusiasm for this ground-breaking project. If you believe you have something to offer this project then please get in touch.
- Financial Support. The whole project is going to cost a lot of money. We believe that the lasting social and economic benefits will more than justify the costs, but we still need to make the investment to make Colne Valley Fibre a reality. By making a donation you will be making a massive contribution at a critical point in the development of the project. Even a small amount will help to meet travel costs, website hosting fees, postage and phone bills, while a larger donation could help to pay for a development worker. To make a donation, please get in touch with us using the contact form in the first instance.
- Support the Project in Other Ways. We will be holding meetings and public events over the coming months to promote the idea and build broader support for the network. You might be able to help by doing simple things like putting up posters in your workplace, or distributing information via email, or encouraging people you know to check out this website. Every little helps, so just because you don't feel able to participate in the steering group or make a donation please don't feel that you can't help .