The Forum

For this charity we set up a forum.  This discussion forum is industry-standard (phpBB ), and provides the usual features for registered users to add information or comments under specified topics. Other users can add further comments.
We modified it to allow users to add three items to their profile.
1. An indicator that they are willing to give support
2. The first part of their postcode.
3. Their status (Patient, carer etc)

The support network

We then placed a marker on a map of the UK for each person who was willing to give support. Clicking on the marker gives the person’s name and status.  Clicking on the Email link takes you to a page from which a message can be sent via the website.

The personal details of the person willing to give support are protected. Their email is not revealed, and although the markers give an approximate position, it is not accurate down to street level.

To see this in action click on the thumbnail above and then click anywhere on the map of the UK in the right-hand column. Once you are on the support map you can zoom in or out using the slide bar on the top right. You can move the map around by dragging with your mouse while holding the left button down. This is a standard Google map and has all the features that Google users will be familiar with.