Transparency Programme Lead & Programmer | @mysociety / @whatdotheyknow / @cardiffrb / @_buildingbeauty 20/21
Joined February 2009
- Tweets 607
- Following 885
- Followers 746
- Likes 3,122
83 Photos and videos
Gareth Rees retweeted
If you’re a journalist, campaigner or someone who simply wants to learn more about FOI, why not consider our upcoming zoom course for requesters?
When: Thursday 16th October from 10am to 4pm
Sign up details via this link: cfoi.org.uk/2025/08/using-th…
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Gareth Rees retweeted
17 Sep 2025
🚨Reminder: CFOI invites both beginners and experienced requesters to our next online training course on Thursday 16th October 2025.
Please see this link to secure your space
cfoi.org.uk/2025/08/using-th…
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Gareth Rees retweeted
28 Apr 2025
🔔Final Call 🔔
Last chance to book in for our webinar tomorrow – “A guide to making successful freedom of information request”
Space is limited to first come first served, so if you haven’t yet booked your space make sure to book today!
🔗 Sign up now: tinyurl.com/WebinarFOI
ALT Using FOI: a guide to making successful information requests Free online webinars Tuesday 29.04.25 14:00-15:30 or Wednesday 30.04.25 18:00-19:30. Book now: foi.scot/foi-users-guide
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Gareth Rees retweeted
10 Apr 2025
As part of the 20 year celebrations we are holding our first webinar of 2025. If you are a member of the public, a campaigner or just someone want to
access their information rights, this is the webinar for you.
🔗 Register now: tinyurl.com/WebinarFOI
ALT Using FOI: a guide to making successful information requests Free online webinars Tuesday 29.04.25 14:00-15:30 or Wednesday 30.04.25 18:00-19:30. Book now: foi.scot/foi-users-guide
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Gareth Rees retweeted
11 Jan 2025
THAT'S better. Adding height AND making London more gorgeous & interesting.
Bravo to our friend @FTerryArchitect & Finchatton for improving London. No rules of economics or physics stops us making our streets more lovely - only modish malevolence & the curious concept of "pastiche" which mysteriously only applies when evolving styles from pre 1930
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Gareth Rees retweeted
18 Dec 2024
The first set of FOI stats for central govt since the general election has been published today and shows a similar pattern under Labour to the FOI performance of the Conservative govt - which is not surprising.
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Gareth Rees retweeted
9 Dec 2024
A charity donation makes a great Christmas gift, and if you care about democracy, transparency, community & climate, we'll put it to very good use. mysociety.org/donate/?utm_so… #Thankyou
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Gareth Rees retweeted
Freedom of information doesn't just require public bodies to respond to the requests they receive - they also have to publish information, letting people access it directly.
Some examples below of news stories from across the UK which arose from published information. 👇
3 Oct 2024
I love a Freedom of Information request. I also love not sending an FOI request. As a data journalist, sometimes it’s easier to go digging through published data for the story rather than using FOI, especially if what y... clairemiller.net/2024/10/mor…
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19 Sep 2024
Top tips on data visualisation! If you're interested in this, you might also like how you can use data visualisation from FOI data to tell some really compelling stories mysociety.org/2024/04/03/acc…
19 Sep 2024
What are 4 Keys to Effective Data Visualisation:
1. Understand Your Audience
2. Choose the Right Visualisation Type
3. Keep it Simple
4. Use Colour Wisely
Learn more: clairemiller.net/2024/02/fou…
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Gareth Rees retweeted
18 Sep 2024
I’ve at last got around to setting up a blog to about UK transparency law.
It is a crucial democratic safeguard, but it is imperfect, treated with distain by many in government, and often badly enforced.
You can read all about it on Relight My FOIA
relightmyfoia.blog/
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Gareth Rees retweeted
3 Sep 2024
.@TBIJ is looking for a data journalist with in-depth experience of scraping to work on an ongoing investigation. If you're interested, or can suggest someone who might be, please drop me a DM
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3 Sep 2024
Really enjoyed how this podcast explored using FOI alongside other reporting tactics. A key idea is using existing requests to see how the data might be held and how to best phrase a request. Chuffed to see @whatdotheyknow mentioned – we've over 1m FOI requests published now! 1/3
3 Sep 2024
Last week we spoke to journalist @toledoluizf about investigating deforestation using open data sources. You can find the full podcast episode live now on streaming services under 'Stage Talks with Bellingcat' or listen back on our YouTube here: youtube.com/watch?v=-u4Ho_6y…
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3 Sep 2024
There's also a whole network of international partners who use our code to run their own FOI platform alaveteli.org/deployments/ 2/3
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3 Sep 2024
If you're struggling to manage loads of FOIs, @whatdotheyknow and several of the international FOI sites have installed our latest pro features which help make it easier to send and manage larger investigations whatdotheyknow.com/pro/ 3/3
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Gareth Rees retweeted
12 Aug 2024
Our friends at @TheBristolCable are 90% to their fundraising target, which will unlock a crucial bonus grant of £40,000.
They do a lot of valuable journalism - support them via this link.
thebristolcable.org/join/?jo…
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Gareth Rees retweeted
9 Jul 2024
Our Alaveteli software which helps people run FOI sites all over the world - including our own @whatdotheyknow - has enjoyed a series of recent improvements. Here's the first - more to follow! mysociety.org/2024/07/09/new…
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Gareth Rees retweeted
4 Jun 2024
It's great that our public feed of information requested from authorities has helped with this analysis. FOI helps uncover emergent themes in what people need information about. Looking forward to seeing what comes out of authorities digging a layer deeper into each theme.
3 Jun 2024
NEW: Together with @WhatDoTheyKnow, we’ve analysed more than 150,000 FOI requests to identify the common themes that people are interested in to help you decide what information you could proactively publish. ⬇️
ALT An icon of a yellow and white line graph with a magnifying glass over the top. This is to represent that we're taking a closer look at the data behind FOI requests.
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Gareth Rees retweeted
7 May 2024
I'm so excited about this project I agreed to make a video explaining it! eek!
please share, engage etc and check out whofundsthem.com! ❤️
7 May 2024
Got a minute to spare? Watch Julia explain our new WhoFundsThem project 👇
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Gareth Rees retweeted
7 May 2024
A great opportunity from @mySociety for journalism students and journalists:
💪 Help hold power to account
🧠 Build skills and knowledge
🤩 Valuable experience to add to a CV
mysociety.org/democracy/who-…
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Gareth Rees retweeted
25 Apr 2024
NEWS
This government is the most secretive ever... FACT
Transparency plummets to new low.
@PeterKGeoghegan has found that just 34% of resolvable FOI requests were granted in full in 2023, the lowest since records began
They've trashed Nolan Principles in every conceivable way
25 Apr 2024
🚨Government transparency plunges to the lowest level ever
🔴Departments and government agencies granted just 34% of “resolvable” Freedom of Information requests in full last year
🔴 Cabinet Office data admits this is “the lowest figure since monitoring began in 2005”
🔴 Public right to know? More like 'government right to secrecy'
New story on Democracy for Sale newsletter:
democracyforsale.substack.co…
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