Factsheet
Write an article about FixMyStreet
Do you contribute to a newsletter of any kind? Perhaps you are a member of a community group or a civic society whose members would like to hear about FixMyStreet.
We always welcome people spreading the word, and we’d be very grateful if you could write a short piece to explain how FixMyStreet works.
Here are some facts and figures that might help.
1. You can use FixMyStreet to report street problems like potholes, broken streetlights or dangerous paving, anywhere the UK.
2. All you have to do is mark where the problem is on a map, add a short description, and send it off. You don’t need to know who’s responsible for fixing the problem the website automatically sends it to the right place.
3. Your report is also displayed on the FixMyStreet website, so that others can comment or leave advice.
4. The council replies directly back to you, and is responsible for doing the actual fixing.
5. If you put your postcode in on the homepage, you can see all the problems that have recently been reported in your own area great for tracking what the biggest concerns are in your own community.
6. Over 50% of FixMyStreet users say that they’ve never reported anything to the council before, so it’s a great gateway towards civic engagement.
7. The site has been used to make over 500,000 reports (as of November 2014) since it was launched in 2007.
8. The code that runs the site is ‘Open Source’, so it can be used or modified by anyone who wants to run a similar site. There are FixMyStreet sites all over the world, including in Norway, Chile, Australia and Malaysia.
9. The code has also been adapted for other purposes, for example, reporting shortages of TB vaccines in Indian clinics; reporting empty homes to councils, and reporting bike accidents across the UK.
10. Several UK councils (and one in Switzerland) have bought a white label version of FixMyStreet to use as their main reporting mechanism on the council website.
Please feel free to use our logo or take a screenshot from the site.
Need any more facts or figures? Just drop a line to press@mysociety.org and we’ll be
happy to help.