The Oddfellows (sheffield district)

The Officers and Management Committee of the Sheffield Branch of the Oddfellows Friendly Society have asked me to write to express their thanks for the assistance of the Sheffield Community Information Project in establishing an Internet web site for our local organisation.

The Sheffield Branch is one of 600 local community based Oddfellows groups in the UK whose members combine together for mutual aid, providing social, financial and practical support for each other.  We have over 700 members in the Sheffield district and there are 100,000 members in the UK and another half-million in 25 countries worldwide.

We have been delighted and astonished at the success of the web site.  A surprisingly large number of our members have access to the Internet, either in their own right or through their children/grandchildren.  The online availability of up-to-date information on our programme of social activities has proved very popular and useful to our members, and also to show their friends and family what our society does.  The information on the financial benefits and support services available to members has also proved popular and we have been asked by members to expand this information.

As we are part of a national (and international) federation of local groups, 'networking' between branches has always been important.  Our head office is now encouraging other branches to make good use of the Internet, using our site as an example.  As other local groups come online we will provide links to their sites enabling our members to share in the activities of other groups in this area of the country.

A totally unexpected result of the setting up of our site has been the amount of international interest it has generated from other Oddfellows groups around the world.  We have been overwhelmed by the email traffic the site has generated from members in USA, Canada, Mexico, Africa, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Denmark - and even Iceland!  The links we have established with fellow members around the world have proved to be of great interest to our members.  In response to this interest we have set up a links page on our own site to direct links to other Oddfellows web sites of interest in other countries around the world.

The Sheffield Branch of the Oddfellows played a significant role in the development of the Friendly Society movement in the 18th century.  In response to requests from fellow members from overseas groups we have therefore added a 'History & Traditions' section to our site.

Thanks to the training received from SCI, we are now able to continue developing the site to meet the needs of our members.  As the Internet becomes more readily available to the general public, the role of our site as a 'shop front' to the local community, inviting people to take part in our social activities and make new friends, will become increasingly important.  Our local membership has already increased by over 200 this year - a 40% increase!

This increase in membership, together with the amount of interest and traffic generated by the site, demonstrates that it has been a great success and we record our thanks for your help and support.

Paul Eyre

04/07/2000