Where can I find money for a good idea?

By doug88888

I blogged about our IT peer support project a few months back and, as some of you know via my tweeting, after very hopeful noises from the committee we were reporting to, it turns out there's no money to fund the project after all. The email I got from the committee chair said:

"The upshot is that there is no money at the moment, but [we are] continuing to look for funding from somewhere. It’s a very tough year and [we are] waiting to hear the final Corporate Services budget outcome which should be known soon.

It’s very regrettable, but we may need to put the scheme on hold. I haven’t lost hope just yet, though."

So whilst there's still a chink of light there, I am, to say the least, disappointed. And all the more so because we (the IT skills working group) have been beavering away on this for more than a year.

My initial reaction was one of resignation, however, having just had a conversation with someone entirely unconnected with the project I've been reminded that this is a good idea and one that needs to see the light of day.

The benefits of the project, as I see it, include the following:

• students who are users of the service get contextualised and personalised help on their IT skills queries
• in particular, distance learners will get increased support on their IT skills queries
• peers support students will improve their own IT skills (IT literacy?) as they deal with student enquiries
• peer support students will gain loads of experience in dealing with people - face to face and online (great stuff for CVs)
• peer support students will gain a Leicester Award and recognition on their transcript (more great stuff for CVs)
• a bank of FAQs (and associated answers) will be built up - a useful resource
• the project will serve as a good test-bed for peers support in other contexts in the university

So the question is, can you (both my readers) recommend any potential sources of funding for the project? All suggestions gratefully received.