ORANGE BUS TAKES CHARITY SITE LIVE AS REPORTS OF CYBER BULLYING RISE
Creative digital agency Orange Bus has completed the design and build of a new website for Family Lives - a national charity that provides 24-hour help and support to families across the UK.
As reported incidents of cyber bullying continue to rise, Family Lives is calling for stronger partnerships between parents, pupils and teachers to tackle the problem. The new website is the lynch pin in the charity’s plans to simplify accessibility to the free support it offers on this subject, as well as the broader range of services it offers to meet the ever increasing demands of modern parenting.
There has been a 77pc rise in the number of calls regarding cyber bullying to the Family Lives 24-hour Parentline in the last year and, whilst calls of this nature still make up a relatively small proportion of total bullying calls, the charity is concerned. Reports of bullying in general are also on the increase with a 13pc rise.
Orange Bus has created a website specifically focused on user experience to provide a highly accessible and helpful resource in bridging the gap that can exist between parents, professionals, families and children.
Julian Leighton, director at Orange Bus, said: “Family Lives has a truly massive amount of excellent information and resources – all of which must be both easy to find and informative to a broad spectrum of users. It was imperative Orange Bus delivered a site that supported and reflected the objectives of the Family Lives organisation through its content, functionality and visual and user experience design.
“By incorporating a greater level of parent interactivity such as blogs, comments, videos, ratings, forums and additional support via podcasts and live chat, the Family Lives site is designed to wear a number of hats for different user groups. However the key element is that it must engage and empower parents, whilst informing professionals working with families.”
Orange Bus continues to win prestigious contracts off the back of its specialism in both user experience and interface design, and on the strength of its creative input, strategic insights and delivery.
The firm, which recently expanded into bigger premises on Newcastle’s Quayside, has an enviable client list including global names such as Barclays, Tommee Tippee, Sage and most recently, international media, publishing and education company Pearson.
Luke Surry, head of digital media at Family Lives, said: "Cyber bullying is a serious and growing problem. With Internet access so readily available through laptops and mobile phones, victims often find the situation relentless.
"It's vital that parents have easy access to online support, and for many the Family Lives website is the first place they visit. Parents can live chat with a trained family support worker, get advice over email and talk with other people facing similar issues in our discussion forum."
Editors notes:
- For parenting professionals and practitioners, the site contains links to information and training modules to offer approaches to parenting and the possible solutions that can be implemented.
- In an online survey Bullying UK found that 43.5% of respondents aged 11-16 had been bullied via social networks such as Facebook, Bebo, Myspace, Twitter. 51% felt that blocking the bully from further contact or communication was a vital tool and a further 68 % felt that being able to report the perpetrator’s bullying activities would be advantageous.
- Cyber bullying platforms ensure children who are bullied have no respite as online and other social media permeates the school and home environment – this is a real concern to families and parents of bullied children who often find the situation traumatic and difficult to manage.
Some families may find it difficult to report cyber bullying to the school concerned and parents should contact Family Lives, or visit the dedicated site at www.bullyinguk.co.uk – part of Family Lives - if they need support.
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NOTES TO EDITOR
For further information please contact Angela Leighton or Libbi Cook at Say Something on 01740 621485 or 07799 332860, or email angela@saysomethingpr.com or libbi@saysomethingpr.com.