The Comment section in today’s Ashbourne News Telegraph (10th Sept 2008) mentions very favourably PARWICH.ORG, so we thought our readers might like to see this in full:
IF YOU haven’t already done this, and you have the necessary facilities, log on to http://parwich.org and have a good look around. Make sure you have a bit of time though, it’s easy to lose several hours reading through the numerous snippets of news and views posted up on a daily basis.
We would like to congratulate the village and the website’s hard-working administrators for creating something that must be almost unique in such a small sleepy village as Parwich.
What strikes you as you click away at the hundreds of articles and comments on the site is just how busy it is. Villagers we assume must log on every day and debate the finer points of life both within the village and further afield. It’s fascinating, friendly, and a shining example of a healthy community embracing modern technology.
Sceptics will doubtless rush in and argue that this is a sad sign of the times, and will lead to a community glued to their computer desks instead of getting out and communicating in the fresh air.
We think that is nonsense. Most people, without doubt many of the Parwich.org users, log on to the internet every day anyway, so a quick click or two will hardly be chaining them to their desk.
Most of Ashbourne’s villages have newsletters but now, for the people of Parwich, they have something far more interactive and a lot more fun. (There’s even jigsaws to play with on the site.)
As a company well versed in the art of digital publishing the News Telegraph has always been bowled over by the fact that a small community has produced such a busy social and informative platform to “get together”.
Whether you see the internet as a blessing or a curse, it’s good to see a village communicating so well and displaying such a community spirit. Even if it is done in cyberspace.
PARWICH.ORG 
I read this in Ashbourne whilst having coffee. As a team we put many hours into this blog site so it is really nice to have our hard work recognised by others.
Remember if you have any ideas for any articles or photos that you would like putting onto this site email them to parwich@hotmail.org (photos can be sent as jpeg’s etc) – We don’t have to put your name alongside them.
I am really pleased that the Parwich org team have been mentioned in the Ashbourne Telegraph. I for one appreciate all of their
hard work,and look forward each day to reading the articles and viewing the photos on the blog site.
I agree wholeheartedly with the journalist who wrote this piece. The team at Parwich.org have truly broken new ground in so many area’s – providing a forum which allows everyone their views – a rich and immediate source of local news and information, – and above all else it is informative and fun.
We are now approaching 75,000 page views.
That is amazing.
Well done. You must feel so proud!
I find it the most convenient place to find out what’s going on – and what I have missed! I usually log on while I am waiting for the kettle to boil or in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep. Thanks team for all your efforts.
Our broadband has been down for a couple of weeks and I have been feeling quite lost without access to Parwich.org – back on line now thank goodness. We arrived just as the website was really getting going and it’s a great way to find out what’s going on in the village when you’re new and don’t really know who’s who and what’s what. Thank you for keeping us in touch.
Great to see the team’s efforts recognised. What did we do before it’s birth?