This document summarizes the Hackney CAB Crowdmap project, which uses an open-source mapping software called Crowdmap to collect and share stories about the impact of housing benefit cuts in Hackney. The project aims to raise awareness of available resources and help for the approximately 8,000 affected households. It allows people to anonymously report how the cuts are affecting them in order to build a picture of the impacts and connect people to advice. Partners include local advice organizations and the Young Foundation provides mentoring support. Outcomes so far include other organizations adopting Crowdmap and influencing local government reviews of housing benefit changes.

1. Hackney CAB Crowdmap
Sharing Stories on the impact
of Housing Benefit cuts in Hackney

2. Hackney CAB Crowdmap
 Sharing stories on the impact of housing
benefit changes in Hackney
 Aims: To raise awareness and provide people
with information on options and where to get
help
 www.hackneycabcrowdmap.com
 @hcabcrowdmap on Twitter
 Hackney CAB Crowdmap on Facebook

3. Crowdmap - How it started
 Ushahidi ‘testimony’ or ‘witness’ - group of developers
and bloggers in Kenya
 Developed open source software to share and map
reports of violence in Kenya in the post-election
violence in January 2008
 www.ushahidi.com
 Crowdmap software - off-the-shelf version of Ushahidi
 www.fixyourstreet.ie - South Dublin county council
 www.immigrantharassment.com - Arizonans Unite

4. Crowdmap - How does it work?
 Crowdmap provides you with -
 A website
 With a live map of any selected geographical location
 To which you can add your own geographical and dated
reports
 And you can invite people to add their own reports
 Live map - adds time dimension to geographical data
 As reports are added, you can create a snapshot of reports
at any time and play through a timeline to demonstrate how
and where reports have been added
 All for free!

5. Hackney CAB Crowdmap project
 Working Title - Hackney CAB Crowdmap
 Mapping impact of Housing Benefit shortfalls in
Hackney
 Affects approx 8000 households in private rented
accommodation in Hackney, almost 10% of the
borough
 Average shortfall £40 per week
 Reporting bureau and other agency enquiries
 Public reports

6. Hackney CAB Crowdmap project
 The project collects stories of how people are affected
and how they are coping
 Pointing people towards resources and help available
in Hackney
 Information on options
 Blog posts - most recently on landlord mystery
shopping exercise to see how many properties
available to Housing Benefit tenants - we found 14 out
of 1600!

7. Hackney CAB Crowdmap project
 Open to local community to report directly and to
share their stories - to know that they are not alone
and that there is help out there
 Bring people together over the issue
 Provides a route to advice on the related issues - on
options available and how to get help and advice in
Hackney
 Awareness raising
 Compiles the stories of those affected in one place
over time - so that we can build a picture of how the
community is affected by the Housing Benefit changes

8. Hackney CAB Crowdmap project
 Issues we needed to consider for
the project
 Anonymity
 How we use the service
 How the public use the service
 Reaching out to public to share
stories

9. Partners
 Local advice organisations
 Homelessness and Tenancy support
services
 Parent support groups
 Local government

10. Data
 Hackney Council data modelling
research
 8000 affected households
 Welfare Reform working group
 Welfare Reform Impact Dashboard

11. Resources
 Three social policy volunteers at Hackney
CAB
 Young Foundation mentoring and support
 Pro bono web support and free hosting from
Base Creative
 Volunteer designer on photography and
design
 Free and easy to use software - Crowdmap
and Wordpress (with free hosting options)

12. The Young Foundation
 Applied to Building Local Activism programme in
summer 2011
 Support and mentoring
 Help with building Wordpress website around
Crowdmap
 Pro bono help from Base Creative web design
 Constant source of support from advice on political
and press issues, to practical help with landlord
survey, street leafleting, workshops
 Helped to make the website a much richer resource
and the project more ambitious and far-reaching

13. Hackney CAB Crowdmap project
Outcomes so far:
 Other bureaux and orgs running
Crowdmap projects
 London Assembly
 DWP research
 Hackney Scrutiny Review on Housing
Benefit changes
 Local workshops

14. Please get in touch -
You can contact me at Hackney CAB on email:
Catherine Dempsey - cdempsey@eastendcab.org.uk