diff --git a/democracy_club/templates/about/index.html b/democracy_club/templates/about/index.html index 7be36cb5..67099301 100644 --- a/democracy_club/templates/about/index.html +++ b/democracy_club/templates/about/index.html @@ -18,11 +18,7 @@ Established in 2010 to collect information on the candidates running in that year's general election, Democracy Club was registered as a Community Interest Company in -2015. Since then we have covered every major UK election, and now run the national -online polling station finder and candidate database. A data supplier to the [Electoral -Commission](https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/) -since 2017, we have also worked with local and national government across all four -UK nations. +2015. We now run a national online polling station finder and candidate database, serving election information to [millions of UK](https://democracyclub.org.uk/research/impact/) voters earch year. In our short history we have transformed the accessibility of UK elections. We've opened up the online civic space, providing [non-partisan platforms](https://democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2023/02/17/democracy-club-and-political-impartiality/) which enable @@ -30,19 +26,16 @@ candidates. We've delivered personalised election information to well over ten million people since 2018. In a world which is increasingly concerned about the effect of the internet on democracy, we're using digital and data to inform and -empower. [Read our current organisational strategy](https://democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2022/01/05/2022-and-beyond-an-updated-strategy/). - -Working alongside other organisations is at the core of what we do. Our tools are -used widely across UK civil society, from student unions and civic education -organisations, through to technology and social and traditional media companies. -During 2019 we sent 218m notifications in partnership with Facebook, Instagram, -Twitter, and SnapChat to remind people to vote. We've also enabled groups supporting -the most marginalised to get their members engaged and voting, such as migrants, -Roma and Travellers, and people with learning disabilities and autism. Furthermore, -by making data on elections more freely available we've enabled high-quality -research and journalism - for example, The Times and the Fawcett Society have -recently used our data to shine a light on the 'glacial' progress of gender and -age diversity among election candidates. +empower. + +**[Read our current organisational strategy](https://democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2022/01/05/2022-and-beyond-an-updated-strategy/).** + +Working alongside other organisations is at the core of what we do. A data supplier to the [Electoral +Commission](https://democracyclub.org.uk/blog/2023/10/25/case-study-electoral-commission/) +since 2017, we have also worked with local and national government across all four +UK nations. + +Our tools are used widely across UK civil society, from student unions and civic education organisations through to social media companies. We've also enabled groups supporting the most marginalised to get their members engaged and voting, such as migrants, Roma and Travellers, and people with learning disabilities and autism. Our candidate data is [free to download](https://democracyclub.org.uk/data_apis/data/), and our postcode lookup can be accessed via [an API](https://democracyclub.org.uk/data_apis/voting_information_api/), allowing other organisations to build their own tools. **Democracy Club is widely regarded as a core infrastructure project within the UK democracy sector.** @@ -54,37 +47,19 @@ by an online network of hundreds of volunteers who assist with compiling and maintaining our databases. -Much of our work focuses on collecting data from the UK's approximately 400 local -authorities, either via communicating with them directly or taking information -from their websites using our unique infrastructure of web 'scrapers'. Working with -our amazing volunteers, we aggregate this data and publish it for use by anyone. -We are committed to open data. We believe that making the data that we collect -available to everyone is the best way of empowering the most people to vote. +Much of our work involves collecting data from the UK's approximately 350 local authorities, either by communicating with them directly or taking information from their websites using our unique infrastructure of automated 'scrapers'. Working with our amazing volunteers, we aggregate this data and publish it for use by anyone. -We believe that we make our greatest impact when we work in partnership with -other organisations. In the past we've collaborated with other civic organisations, -charities, and media to reach millions more people with -information and research. +We are committed to open data. We believe that making the data that we collect available to everyone is the best way of empowering the most people to vote. **[Meet the team](/about/team/)** ## Community and volunteers -Democracy Club's election candidate database is compiled and maintained by volunteers. -Our volunteers are non-partisan, either interested in democracy, open source technology, -or both. Around elections, we're supported by a network of supporters who crowdsource -publicly available information like candidate manifestos. We also host an online -community of 1,000 members and a mailing list with tens of thousands of subscribers. - -The focus of this work occurs every year in March and April, when candidate lists -are published for the May local elections. We rely on our volunteers to collect -these (mainly PDF) documents and enter the information into our database, with a -little help from our automation software. In 2022, which was a relatively quiet -election, 1,500 volunteers made 64,000 edits to our database, collecting details on -over 21,000 individual candidates. - -Want to take part? To get involved, [head over to our database](https://candidates.democracyclub.org.uk/volunteer/) to create an account. -We also recommend joining our [mailing list](https://mailinglist.democracyclub.org.uk/subscription/form) to keep updated. +Democracy Club's candidate database is compiled and maintained by volunteers. Our volunteers are non-partisan, either interested in democracy, open source technology, or both. + +The focus of this work occurs every year in March and April, when candidate lists are published for the May local elections. We rely on our volunteers to collect these (mainly PDF) documents and enter the information into [our database](https://candidates.democracyclub.org.uk/), with a little help from our automation software. We then enrich this data with extra information like contact details or manifestos. In 2022, which was a relatively quiet election, 1,500 volunteers made 64,000 edits to our database, collecting details on over 21,000 individual candidates. + +We also host an online community of more than 1,000 members and a [mailing list](https://mailinglist.democracyclub.org.uk/subscription/form) with thousands of subscribers. ## What people say about us