Students help create community website

ACTION . . . tutor Mark Handscomb with students (from the left) Husna Maqbol, Jorel Bond and Jamie Sellars who created short films and podcasts for the new Oldham Says website (above)

Log on to share views on crime

LIGHTS, camera, action — students have thrown Oldham into the spotlight to help give communities a virtual voice.

Tutor Mark Handscomb led a group of media students at University Campus Oldham in a project to make a series of short films and podcasts which offer snapshots of residents’ thoughts on crime.

The films have been uploaded to www.oldhamsays.com, a new community website.

The project was commissioned by Oldham Partnership to challenge perceptions of crime across the borough.

Digital Journalism student Jamie Sellars said: “It’s great that we get the opportunity to highlight some of the positive stories that never feature in the mainstream news.

“There’s no shortage of interesting, brilliant things being done to make Oldham a better place to live and work.

“Being involved with Oldham Says provided digital journalism students with an opportunity to show practical examples of what people like PCSO Christine Gee are doing to restore a sense of community and pride to Oldham.”

Fellow student Kerry Voellner met recovering drug addict Mark Meuse.

She said: “Meeting Neil was a revelation. I’ve never met anyone like him before and it was a bit of a shock realising what his life had been like while he was using heroin.

“He was such an interesting person to interview and it really opened my eyes to how other people live their lives. I thoroughly enjoyed the production and editing the films and hope these will be the first of many we’ll make for the site.”

As well as letting residents know what is being done to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour across the borough, the site features stories by local residents and gives Oldhamers the chance to raise their concerns, find out how to get involved and access crime figures for their area.

Nyree Hood, from Positive Steps Oldham, said: “The Oldham Says website is an exciting development for Oldham.

“It gives people the opportunity to tell the police, council and other residents the issues that matter to them without having to leave home.

“It also gives local services and projects a chance to tell us what they have been doing.

“Anyone can contribute to the site by sending us their stories, photos or news to share with the rest of Oldham. We all want to know what Oldham residents have got to say.”