Page updated 25th November 2022
Join us
MossSideStory is an innovative community noticeboard and online display space for people in Moss Side and the neighbouring areas of Manchester. If you can offer help in any way, and would like to take part and be involved, please get in touch.
Your interest and participation is welcome. Our core activities are below.
You might help MossSideStory by putting your existing skill to enjoyable local use, even with little time. You might find new reasons to meet and talk with local people, support others, find answers to questions, and do new things. Training and support can be provided, so that contributing to this project can become professionally rewarding for you as well as locally valuable.
We believe taking part in any community project should be worthwhile, supported, enjoyable and interesting, so with your help we will make sure it is.
What interests you?
Contributor – A key role for all of us. Add Events and Posts relevant to your interest and experience, to help to keep local people informed of what’s going on.
Guide/Support – Inspire and help new people to use the site, and to write and post photos on it with your support or by themselves, including young and elderly.
Events – Ensure that key local events, and online events relevant to particular issues and local people, are included on the site, and with the detail to enable people to take part. This includes posting events that interest you, and encouraging the event organisers to post. It can include encouraging follow-up reports of events by organisers and/or participants.
Reporter – Write as a named author (or mystery investigator!) about what’s happening locally, sometimes interviewing, sometimes writing collaboratively, on histories, stories, sports, local services, and other things that interest you and local people.
Explainer journalist – Investigate and explain things to help us all to understand issues, cope with challenges, vote, make requests, find new ways to enjoy life, and take part in what’s going on.
Monitor – Regularly monitor the speed, visibility, functionality and accessibility of MossSideStory on all screen sizes, including for people with sight impairment. Monitor Google search visibility. Report to and collaborate with the site Developer. (Training offered.)
Promotion & liaison – Encourage local community groups and organisations to use the site for their funded online visibility. Raise public awareness of the site. Respond to user comments, requests and problems.
Fundraiser – Monitor funding sources. Initiate and co-write funding bids both to cover the expenses of running MSS and to enable us to compensate those who spend time making the project work.
Editorial – Securely review each post and event submitted, either to publish, or to request edits for clarity and search visibility. Reject spam attempts. Liaise on issues in editorial policy when needed.
Accountant – Keep the records, keep us on track, and openly report funding, donations, labour and expenses.
Developer – Maintain, update, monitor and develop the technical functionality and security of the WordPress site, ensuring the 40+ software items which create the many functions of the site continue to work together. (Technical; limited for site security.)
Let us know what interests you. We liaise and collaborate in person, by phone and online. MossSideStory is a WordPress site, like a third of the world’s websites, so knowing how to use it is valuable.
Alternatively, if you have no time, but would like to support the project, please consider offering a donation. Everything helps!
We will periodically seek funding, initially to cover the expenses which ensure MossSideStory can remain online, functional, accessible and safe. We are all initially volunteers. We will together receive compensation for labour when we receive sufficient funding.
We are determined that MossSideStory will always be an interesting, well-designed, safe, and welcoming online space, especially for people in Moss Side and the neighbouring areas.
If you can help in any way and would like to be involved, please get in touch.
