Thanks to new funding from the Welsh Government’s Democratic Engagement Grant, we’re going to be doing some really exciting work around WriteToThem over the next couple of years, specifically focused on helping people in Wales. This grant is both an opportunity for us to improve our approach, and to help get our tools into the hands of people who can take it further.
WriteToThem’s core mission is to make it very easy to send an email to your politicians — and to help people send the right message to the right representative. This is especially relevant in Wales, where devolution brings decision-making closer to people, but can also mean people have to discover who is responsible for different public services.
And so, what does this new bundle of work look like?
- First off we’ll be doing some concentrated research with representatives and community groups to understand barriers to constructive communication, which we’ll use to inform new development on the site.
- We’ll also be doing work to ensure that more people are supported to write to representatives for the first time, particularly in the most deprived areas of Wales, where typically there is less engagement with democracy — and all the more need for it!
- Just as important will be the translation of every part of the WriteToThem user flow into Welsh — that’s webpages, buttons, confirmation emails, error messages, the lot.
- And finally, there’ll be improved guidance about where to send messages — people already appreciate WriteToThem for its succinct descriptions here, but we know there are improvements that can be made, especially in the devolved regions.
We’re excited to get going on this, and to work with other grantees on how we can help each other go further. We’re starting to plan our research phase, and will have more to say about our plans soon, so watch this space or sign up to our newsletter to be the first to know.
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Image: Catrin Ellis
