About the web site

If you're thinking of joining the armed forces (or know someone who is) then this website is for you. Joining the armed forces is a big commitment that is not easy to change once made. The site helps you to make the right decision for you about whether to join up. It outlines some of the main pros and cons and answers many common and important questions about careers in the armed forces.

The BeforeYouSignUp information service is not intended to promote a particular view about the armed forces. It is for you, a potential recruit, to decide whether it is best for you to join up, not for anybody else to decide for you. We have tried to make sure that the web site is as fair and accurate as possible. To send your comments or to suggest changes, visit the 'Make a comment' page.  Several changes have already been made to the website because of what people have said to us by email.

The web site has been created by David Gee with financial support from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and the Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation.

About the web site author

The web site author is David Gee, a social campaigner, researcher and community worker who has a particular interest in how young people make the transition to adulthood.

About the web site funders

Both funders have origins in the Quaker movement, which promotes human rights and peacebuilding.

The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust provided funding to establish the web site.  The JRCT is Britain's largest non-governmental funder of projects in the peace and security field.

The Polden Puckham Charitable Foundation provided funding to run the project during 2009 and 2010.  The PPCF funds work for peace, human rights and ecological sustainability.

Acknowledgements

Many people have helped to make this project a success.  Special thanks are due to:

• Jonathan Baxter and Jo for advising on overall project development
• Sunniva Taylor for advice on social networking sites, setting up the Facebook page, advising on usability and style, suggesting additional content pages and co-creating the lesson plan
• Bill Hetheringon for advice on site content
• Andrew Gee and Emma Sangster for advice on usability, search engine optimisation and other technical issues
• Tom Dredge, Sara Lomax, Philip Austin and Janneke van Berlo for advice on style and usability
• Martha Beale for advice on promoting the site to young people
• Fleur Harris for advice on the lesson plan materials and publicising the site in schools
• Jonathan Elliott and Lorraine Clarke for advice on publicity
• Chris Harris for help with hard-coding the quizzes
• JRCT and Polden Puckham for funding the project

Thanks also to the Joomla.org community's work to produce the excellent open-source content management software.

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