Royal Clarence Yard
Your local community, connected.
A private community for people who live, work, berth or run a business at Royal Clarence Yard.
Ask people nearby. Find out what's happening. Share things. Discover local people and businesses. Get useful local information.
Simple enough that anyone can use it.
Supervised enough that it stays useful.
We're starting with 50 people.
Counting…
Only verified people are counted.
Rather than build another website nobody uses, we're doing this the other way round. When 50 verified people from Royal Clarence Yard join, we'll build the next stage with the community.
What's in it for me?
Royal Clarence Yard is full of people who are physically close to each other but often have no simple way of connecting. This is designed to change that.
“I've got family coming this weekend. What's the best option for visitor parking?”
“Has anyone had a parcel delivered to the wrong building?”
“Does anybody have a ladder I could borrow for half an hour?”
“I've got a desk going free. Does anyone nearby want it?”
Make the people and knowledge already around us easier to find.
A small, trusted community
RoyalClarenceYard.app isn't the open internet.
It's for people with a genuine connection to Royal Clarence Yard.
- Residents
- People who work here
- Berth holders
- Businesses based here
- Others with a genuine ongoing connection to Royal Clarence Yard
Members are verified.
That means when you ask a question, offer something, recommend somebody or introduce yourself, you're doing it within a real local community rather than broadcasting it to the world.
Stay connected through WhatsApp
You shouldn't have to remember to check another website every day.
When you join, you can choose to connect Royal Clarence Yard to WhatsApp.
As the pilot develops, WhatsApp can be used for useful local updates and responses to things you've asked about.
RoyalClarenceYard.app remains the organised home of the community, so it doesn't become another enormous WhatsApp group where useful information disappears in hundreds of messages.
What will we build at 50 people?
- What's happening?
- See things happening around Royal Clarence Yard.
- Ask
- Ask the local community a question or request help.
- Share
- Give away, sell, lend or borrow something locally.
- Discover
- Find useful people, skills and businesses around the Yard.
- Groups
- Find other people interested in the same things you are.
- Useful information
- Quick access to practical Royal Clarence Yard information, contacts and services.
And then we stop.
We will only add more if the community actually needs it.
Not another social network
There will be no follower counts, popularity contests or complicated social-media mechanics.
We don't want an advertising dump.
We don't want an argumentative local Facebook group.
And we don't want useful information disappearing into an endless stream of WhatsApp messages.
The community will be supervised so that information stays useful, genuine questions get noticed, stale material disappears and spam or abuse can be dealt with quickly.
AI can help with the routine housekeeping. Humans remain in control.
Who runs it?
The community does.
We propose that the Royal Clarence Yard Residents' Committee becomes the first steward of the community.
The steward helps verify members, looks after the community and deals with the small number of things that need human judgement.
But the role isn't permanent.
In future, if other verified members want to take responsibility for looking after the community, they can put themselves forward and the community can choose.
The technology shouldn't own the community, and neither should one person or organisation.
Boatshed Labs supplies the technology. It does not control normal community decisions.
What about the Residents' Association, RMG and local businesses?
They remain exactly what they are.
RoyalClarenceYard.app isn't intended to replace the Residents' Association website, RMG communications, marina information, local business websites or other useful services.
It provides a simple layer connecting the people who already share this physical place.
Help us start
We don't need hundreds of people. We're starting with 50. If you live, work, berth or do business at Royal Clarence Yard, join the pilot.
Counting…
Only verified people are counted.
No download required. RoyalClarenceYard.app works in your web browser and can later be added to your phone like an app.
An Open Tents pilot
Royal Clarence Yard is the first pilot for a wider idea called Open Tents.
An Open Tent is a simple digital space for a real physical community. The community runs it. The community controls its information. The technology simply makes it easier for people who already share a place to find and help one another.
Boatshed Labs is providing the technology for this pilot.