Community Stack launches Community Switchboard to transform discoverability and accessibility across the UK third sector, with new Barnsley HQ and advanced accessibility R&D facility planned

The launch reflects a broader structural challenge facing the third sector: while demand for community-led support continues to rise, the systems enabling people to find, access, and engage with those services remain fragmented and underdeveloped. Community Switchboard is intended to address this gap by providing a shared infrastructure layer focused on visibility, inclusion, and long-term participation.

A national challenge across discoverability, accessibility, and participation

Across the UK, community organisations play a critical role in delivering social support, yet the mechanisms enabling individuals to discover and engage with those services remain inconsistent. Millions of people lack essential digital skills, millions more remain offline entirely, and accessibility barriers continue to limit participation, particularly for disabled individuals and those with lower digital confidence.

At the same time, the third sector, which underpins a substantial portion of frontline support, is operating under sustained pressure. Many organisations lack the technical capacity, funding, or time required to maintain a modern and accessible digital presence, resulting in a persistent disconnect between the availability of services and individuals' ability to locate them.

This challenge extends beyond access to services. The UK is also facing a growing NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) challenge, particularly among young people, where pathways into work, skills development, and participation are often fragmented or difficult to navigate. Community organisations frequently act as informal entry points into these pathways yet lack the infrastructure to surface opportunities or connect individuals to them at scale.

Community Stack's position is that these issues are interconnected, representing a broader infrastructure gap across discoverability, accessibility, and progression within the third sector.

Community Switchboard: infrastructure for discoverability, accessibility, and sustainability

Community Switchboard has been developed as a shared, standardised infrastructure layer designed specifically for the third sector. The platform enables organisations to establish a credible, accessible digital presence for free in under 10 minutes and be indexed within a national participation system structured around how individuals search for support, including by need, geography, and accessibility requirements.

Beyond improving discoverability, the platform is designed to support long-term sustainability and participation. It incorporates integrated donation pathways, alongside structured routes into volunteering, skills development, and employment opportunities. By connecting individuals not only to services but also to pathways into contribution and work, Community Switchboard positions community organisations as active nodes within broader economic and social systems.

The platform reflects a shift away from fragmented tooling towards infrastructure designed to operate at scale, with accessibility and continuity built in as standard.

#NoCommunityLeftOffline: a national campaign for access, inclusion, and participation

The launch of Community Switchboard sits within Community Stack's wider national campaign, #NoCommunityLeftOffline, which focuses on addressing the systemic barriers that prevent communities and individuals from participating fully in modern digital and social infrastructure.

The campaign recognises that digital exclusion is not solely a connectivity issue, but a structural one. Even where internet access exists, participation breaks down when organisations cannot be found, when services are not accessible by design, or when individuals lack clear pathways into engagement, volunteering, or employment.

Through Community Switchboard and its wider ecosystem, Community Stack is working to establish a new baseline where every organisation can be discovered, every service can be accessed, and every individual can move beyond access into participation and progression.

The campaign places particular focus on rural, underserved, and digitally excluded communities, where reliance on informal networks often creates barriers to access. It also aligns directly with the company's work in accessibility and SEND, ensuring inclusion is built into infrastructure from the outset rather than layered on later.

Origin and naming

The platform's name reflects both its purpose and its origins. Community Switchboard was named by Co-Founder and CEO Ethan Sumner in honour of his Nana, who worked on telecommunications switchboards in Barnsley for British Telecom and Central Call, manually connecting people across the region.

"That role was about connection at a fundamental level. Ensuring people could reach each other when it mattered. Community Switchboard applies that same principle in a modern context, ensuring people can find support, services, and pathways into opportunity."

Growth from Barnsley to a national and global footprint

Community Stack has expanded rapidly from its base in Barnsley, developing a portfolio that spans community operations, events, and platform infrastructure. The organisation currently operates 18 practitioner-led communities across AI, cloud, and platform engineering, supports more than 25,000 members, and delivers over 100 events annually, including a programme of flagship conferences across the UK and internationally.

Its communities and events engage practitioners and leaders from organisations including Apple, ElevenLabs, Ford, Aviva, NatWest Markets, and the NHS, while running events with major industry players such as Amazon Web Services, Lloyds Banking Group, Accenture, and CGI.

This growth reflects an increasing convergence between technology ecosystems and community-led delivery models, particularly as the third sector continues to adopt digital channels to reach and support beneficiaries.

Expansion plans: Barnsley HQ, AI-driven accessibility R&D, and local talent development

Alongside the launch of Community Switchboard, Community Stack has outlined plans for its next phase of growth, which will be accelerated following a planned 2027 investment round.

The company intends to significantly increase its headcount over the next three years, expanding across engineering, product development, research, and partnerships. It also plans to establish a permanent headquarters in Barnsley's Tech Town, reinforcing its long-term commitment to regional growth and positioning the town as a centre for community infrastructure and applied technology.

In parallel, Community Stack will launch an Advanced Accessibility & Community Infrastructure Lab, a dedicated R&D facility focused on the intersection of accessibility, AI, digital inclusion, and third-sector enablement. The lab will explore how AI can be applied responsibly to improve access to services, navigation of complex systems, and communication for individuals with varying needs.

The first projects within the lab will include the development of an open-source AAC device to improve access to communication, and an EHCP support chatbot designed to help families better navigate the SEND system.

Community Stack also plans to recruit apprentices and graduates from Barnsley and the surrounding region, ensuring that local talent is directly involved in building and scaling the next generation of community infrastructure.

This initiative reflects the company's view that accessibility should be treated not as a feature, but as foundational infrastructure.

Leadership perspective

"Communities already underpin how people access support, build skills, and move into employment. The issue is that the systems supporting them have never been built with the same level of intent or reliability as other forms of infrastructure. Community Switchboard is about closing that gap, improving discoverability, strengthening accessibility, and creating clearer pathways into participation and opportunity."

"The focus has been on designing for real-world conditions, for organisations with limited capacity, and for individuals with varying levels of digital confidence and accessibility needs. This is about reducing friction across the system, while ensuring that access to support and pathways into participation are visible and inclusive by default."

Extending access beyond the web

While Community Switchboard launches as a web-based platform, Community Stack has outlined a roadmap that extends beyond traditional digital channels. Planned developments include voice-based interaction, SMS-enabled access, and multi-language support, alongside offline-first capabilities, aimed at ensuring that individuals can discover and engage with services regardless of connectivity or device access.

A full-stack approach to community infrastructure

Community Switchboard forms one pillar of Community Stack's broader infrastructure strategy, which spans community ecosystems, platform development, and applied research. Alongside its forthcoming "Engine" platform for managing community operations, the company is building an integrated system designed to support communities from discovery through to long-term sustainability and growth.

Availability

Community Switchboard is now live and available in early access across the UK. You can access the site via https://switchboard.community

About Community Stack

Community Stack is a UK-based organisation building and operating infrastructure for communities. From its base in Barnsley, the company runs practitioner-led ecosystems across technology disciplines, delivers conferences across the UK and internationally, and develops platforms designed to support the discoverability, accessibility, sustainability, and coordination of community organisations.

With more than 25,000 members, over 100 events annually, and a growing international footprint, Community Stack is establishing itself as a leading operator in the emerging category of community infrastructure.