THE INTERNET is the fastest-growing communications medium in history - and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph is opening the door to let your voluntary group or organisation take advantage of it.

For, while the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and other major local businesses are at the cutting edge of the information super-highway, it can can seem remote to some of our readers. Voluntary groups, small organisations such as Scout or Guide groups, amateur sports clubs, charities and residents' groups may want to use the internet, but find they lack the expertise to build their own site, or the cash to get one built for them.

This is why we have introduced CommuniGate, which can give such groups free websites, built easily with a minimum of computer skills and hosted as part of This Is Lancashire, our very own website and the most popular website in Lancashire.

CommuniGate is not just a place to build websites. It is intended to be at the very heart of the community.

CommuniGate is a lively meeting place where organisations can:

communicate with members -- you can put latest information on the site more easily than by sending letters

attract new members or volunteers -- people can search through CommuniGate looking for like-minded people and organisations

list events and organise a diary -- which members can check for events

publish newsletters and photographs, keeping your members in touch and publicising your activities

host discussions on bulletin boards, letting you know what people think of your organisation, and sharing ideas

Information on the site can be changed in a matter of minutes -- imagine the money saved in phone calls and post if members can be kept up to date via the internet instead of newsletters.

CommuniGate offers:

free, easy-to-use CommuniGate building software and web space -- there are no hidden extras waiting down the line, the only costs are your usual internet ISP/phone costs

password protected and self-policing -- nobody can access your site and post misleading information

diary -- keep everyone up-to-date with the latest information and events

e-mail forwarding -- messages can be sent via CommuniGate to your own account

ability to add regional headlines and the weather from This Is Lancashire

Our only rules are that CommuniGate is strictly for local, non-profit making organisations. It is not intended for commercial use.

So, a Sunday morning youth football club can post their fixtures on the diary, post team selections, publicise trophy evenings, and put on team and action photos for team members and their families to look at.

Some of the organisations already on CommuniGate here in East Lancashire are the St Thomas' Area Residents Association of Blackburn, East Lancashire County Scout Council, East Lancashire Scouts/Lancashire East Guides and The Women's Centre in Blackburn.

CommuniGate will also help raise the profile of your organisation with the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and our sister papers in Newsquest, publishers of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and the second largest newspaper publishing group in the country, who are behind the CommuniGate project.

But CommuniGate is local, and intended to be based in the heart of our local community -- just like the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

For details about CommuniGate follow the links on our website, This Is Lancashire (www.thisislancashire.co.uk), or contact Lancashire's CommuniGate administrator, Richard Lewis, on 01254 678678 ext 412, e-mail rlewis@newsquest.co.uk