By far the project I’m most proud of, the work we began over a decade ago is now a public digital asset, saves millions of taxpayers pounds, and is called LocalGovDrupal.
After two years of both attending and organising meetings bringing councils together to encourage them to share common code, I was approached by Jack McAngus from Brighton & Hove City Council to help them migrate from an old system based on Cold Fusion to Drupal.
I was keen for them to be introduced to the community, because I knew if they went direct to any other digital agency, the agency would simply sell them their employees time, and it is highly unlikely we would be in the position we are today with the existence of LocalGovDrupal. I may not have a big house and fancy car, but I do have the knowledge I did what I felt was the right thing to do.
I was deeply saddened when I heard not long after that Jack had passed away due to a brain tumour. In memory I have posted here the short promotional video featuring him I produced from a small amount of funding I received from the Drupal Association in order to run a local event which we didn’t end up needing because we managed to gain sponsorship to cover costs.
My ex-BBC friend who helped create the video said Jack was like a rabbit in headlights as didn’t want to be in front of the camera but knew how much it meant to represent the public sector so did his best and we were all very grateful for his input.
I also make a cameo appearance, although I was about twice the weight I am now in it…
