One place to signpost events, charities, businesses, schools, courses, news, funding opportunities and more…

Steered by a consortium of education, charity & business organisations the Switchboard acts as the neutral crossing point for schools, charities & businesses to connect, collaborate and signpost opportunities.

Organisations who connect through Switchboard champion a safer, fairer society through more efficient collaboration and mutual support.

Switchboard comprises of the following core modules,
helping you to connect, collaborate and plan

1) Directory of Organisations

An ever growing directory of organisations who pledge to support a safer, fairer society in a range of ways, such as in-kind support, discounts, campaigning or simply embracing the ‘Safer, Fairer Society’ theme as a core focus.

Search and connect with organisations, consultants, partnerships, projects, initiatives and companies.

2) Funding Forum

The funding forum signposts funding streams and in-kind opportunites to encourage collaboration between organisations, and a single place to find what’s out there.

3) Calendar

An interactive, central calendar key national and local events and forums – to help support more efficient, collaborative planning and marketing.

Avoid event and meeting clashes by exploring the centralised calendar of significant local and national key dates

4) Switchboard Forums

Organisations who wish to collaborate publicly, or ‘behind closed doors’ can make use of the Switchboard Forums, enabling a central place to store documents, pictures, videos, meeting minutes and more…

Use the chat box to ask for help in finding what you need, or advice on who to approach for solutions

Our approach to networking

The Switchboard’s active approach to connecting people is driven by a growing movement of ambassadors, organisations, businesses and voluntary organisations who recognise the problems with congestion and search in the online world, and who hold a common desire to create a safer, fairer society.

We aim to simplify and consolidate communications between services, events, organisations, businesses and third-sector voluntary and independent organisations  through a hybrid platform that harnesses the best of the online world, whilst fostering meaningful interactions between ‘real’ people.

In its purest sense, we optimize human skills within an increasingly technological world.

The difference...

There is a plethora of useful associations, networks, charities and membership organisations – and most have a sector they represent or are attached to (e.g. education, business, leadership, health, funding, local authority etc.)….The Switchboard is different, because every association and network is by default part of the movement – regardless of size, status, membership or funding…the only common, binding expectation is to offer something that helps to build a safer, fairer, more sustainable society.

‘We champion the little guys’ as well as the big guns…

Many small businesses and charities are without big marketing budgets, or have the capacity to connect with the people and organisations that they need to thrive.

People are busy, and some don’t have the resource to be ‘in the know’ about what’s happening in their locality.

Examples of the work of The Switchboard

– Providing a platform for an all embracing Festival of Learning, enabling people to connect with people and showcase what works

– Centralising the most prominent and impactful calendar dates…the big shows, the conferences and the major deadlines that multiple organisations are affected by, but that often swim `around in a congested world of separate online calendars.

 – Consolidating the huge number of useful newsletters from multiple sectors into one place

 – Supporting and signposting other websites

 – Providing a home for any event (from eventbrites, to simple Zooms)

 – Providing a simple online home for smaller orgsanisations, individual consultants and websites