SHARE – the organisation responsible for training housing associations in Scotland - has enlisted the help of social media experts NSDesign for a new training programme.

The organisation, which is based in Glasgow, has over 80 members from different housing associations around west central Scotland.

Training and Development Manager at SHARE, Olwyn Gaffney recognised the impact that social networking could have on housing associations.

She said: "Using social media, organisations have access to a virtually untapped communication resource, however they need to be aware of the pitfalls that this brings and understand how to harness this powerful medium to the advantage of the social housing network for the benefit of tenants and staff.

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"SHARE would be happy to discuss any training requirements that organisations have on using social media."

Gary Ennis, Managing Director of NSDesign, added: "Social media and networking is not something which is restricted to big companies or any particular sector. What we are able to show groups like SHARE is how to make it work for them and how they can adapt and work within the boundaries of what is and is not appropriate for their work."

One attendee Lee Kerr, from Dumfries and Galloway Housing Association commented: "Gary was very enthusiastic and great to listen to, but more importantly, the course told me a lot about social networking and helped me see how it could benefit our organisation. The examples and case studies shown helped me understand the size and impact social networking is having, and what we could do to tap into this.”

(GK/KMcA)