About us
Twenty years of combating social isolation
We began life in Northern Ireland in 1990 as a six-month project which used telephone befriending groups to bring people from either side of the sectarian divide together. This innovative use of telephone conferencing technology created a model of reconciliation which has been used in areas of conflict the world over and led to Community Network being established as a charity dedicated to using telecommunications for social benefit.
During our early years, it became clear that there was a genuine need for telephone conferencing technology amongst social isolated individuals, which is a focus we have kept ever since.
We have also continued to pioneer innovation in the use of telephone conferencing technology, which saw us enable the first ever telephone carol service in 2002, which is now an annual event broadcast from the church of St Martins-in-the-Fields in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Our groundbreaking approach to the use of telephone conferencing technology has always been matched by an innovative approach to how we fund our work, which is based on supplying a range of commercial telephone services to the Third Sector.
In 2009, Community Network became one of the first organisations in the United Kingdom to be awarded the Social Enterprise Mark. This indicates to customers that by working with us they are helping to create tangible benefits for society and the environment, rather than simply generating profits for owners or shareholders.
We celebrated our twentieth anniversary in 2010 and look forward to the next twenty years of promoting social inclusion and innovation in telecommunications.
