Introductions

We are Mandy and Duncan Ball.  We produced our first website - oodwooc.co.uk - in 2000 when we wanted to display our family history research and photographs.  That original website is still growing and has over 28,000 photographs and 5,000 pages.  As you can see, what started as a hobby has grown into something much bigger.

Duncan has over 32 years experience in the IT industry working with a variety of companies in many business sectors.  His background was programing and this has been a continuing interest for him.  It is this knowledge of what is possible combined with his experience in coding that has enabled him to develop the necessary skills for producing websites.

Mandy's background was in old-fashioned secretarial work, where organisation, accuracy and presentation were a skill.  Even though word processors seem to have taken over in the office, these skills are still ingrained in her and show in the detail of her work.  Mandy is also a dab-hand using desktop publishing software and has designed and produced many posters, illustrated books and leaflets and, of course, websites.

Designing a website for a choir of which Mandy is a member -  Swindon Scratch Choir  - showed us how beneficial a website could be for a group but also that it is beyond the reach of most groups due to cost.  We wondered if we could help this situation and this website service was born!