Overview of our Website framework/template which also offers the best value. It is aimed at Town and Parish council but also used by Residents Associations and other community groups
My Parish Council, My Town Council, My Community Council
OgImage: General/My-Council-Logo.png


The website challenge faced by Town or Parish Councils and community engagement.

Council challenge

(The many tasks of a Parish, Town or Community Councillor)

As the first level of democracy in the UK, Parish & Town Councils have many duties. Add to this the need for transparency and we are reminded that the often-overlooked website is a key part of a Council’s ability to carry out these duties in a compliant manner. Now with GDPR in place as well as WCGA 2.2 compliance, accessibility, securing and ensuring the privacy of that communication has become a potentially high risk for a Council’s budget. The packages offered here by TEEC take all this into account and provide the best value solution.

Challenging times, during the Covid-19 pandemic, meant lots of additional information and support being needed and provided through things like the Parish Website. One advantage of using the template is the ability of clerks, councillors, and volunteers to all add content as almost no programming skill is needed to make 95% of all changes. A key feature that catches out many is the need to support the Royal Bridge protocol. This is built into the council template.

The Parish Council Websites Template was suggested by TEEC’s MD (Cllr Adrian Abbs B.Sc.) as a direct result of becoming a Parish Councillor for Greenham in 2018. Having seen the challenges that Parish Councils face, he commissioned the template, and to ensure a high-quality solution is available, he has setup within TEEC the hosting of this template, complete with a package of services available to anyone that needs it. The template is free to use for any Parish Councils or Community Project Teams, even if the hosting is with another company.


Help we offer for Councillors and Clerks

As an unpaid volunteer or clerk your time is important but often limited. By using this Template / Framework you can be sure that it provides a compliant solution, with a team of people working full time to support it. This ensures it is:

  • Always there (monitored and fixed if an outage occurs) 24x7x365
  • Up to date with the latest standards for usability (working across Desktops, Tablets, Mobiles and TVs)
  • Compliant with UK security and data protection legislation (GDPR etc.)
  • Tested regularly to ensure it works on new releases of web browsers (software like Google, FireFox, Safari and Microsoft Edge)
  • Has new features available as the needs of the Parish Council evolve

Contact us on 01635 282361 for more details.

We won't just try and sell you something, we will help you through the correct approval process so you can start saving time and money as soon as possible. This includes:

  • Details on what will be needed for the various meetings to get approval to change
  • Presentations and notes to share with Councillors proving the costs saved and the improved ease of use for Councillors, Clerks and Parishioners
  • A specification so you can run a thorough tender process
  • Contracts etc to appoint your new supplier

Example features aimed at reducing the need for specialist knowledge.

Below are some of the features (called widgets or modules) that can be placed on any page of your website. They aim to meet three goals. 

First, to remove the need for any specialist knowledge when updating something on the website. We aim to minimise the need to learn web development skills

Second, to make the update as efficient for you as possible. Most features do not require you to edit a page. You simply add the new item and any page using the widget is auto updated. This also includes integration with a Facebook page.

Third, to keep your site and content compliant with accessibility legislation, like WCAG, & to provide GDPR compliant forms.


Example feature for Next Meeting and Next Event

The feature auto updates to always display the next event and meeting wherever you place the "Next Meeting" and "Next Event" widgets. The solution also adds these meetings and events to your parish calendar.


19 January 2026

Example Meeting

England Monday 11:00 pm View Meeting Details
30 July 2025

Online Training Every Wednesday

Zoom 12:00 30/07/2025 to 12:45 View Event Details

Latest Parish News Feature

This feature below auto updates your home page as you add news items. We are using it to tell you about our own latest features


Our Latest News

Cymorth gyda'r iaith Gymraeg

Cymru

22

July 2025
 Photo of Cymorth gyda'r iaith Gymraeg

Ar ôl derbyn ceisiadau i ddangos sut y gellid cefnogi ieithoedd dwyochrog trwy'r templed, rydym yn falch o gyhoeddi gosod cychwynnol ar gyfer y galluoedd hyn ar gyfer cynghorau sy'n ei chael hi'n angenrheidiol. 

Nawr mae'n fater o greu'r cynnwys yn y ddwy iaith a'i gyhoeddjust fel y byddech ei eisiau.

Welsh Language support

Wales

22

July 2025
Welsh Language support

Having received requests to show how dual language could be supported by the template we are pleased to announce initial deployment for this capability for councils that need this support.

Now its just a matter of creating the content in each language and publishing as you need.


AGAR and .gov or llyw.cymru domains

England

13

May 2025
Photo of AGAR and .gov domains

.gov or llyw.cymru Domains

Central Government is requiring all but the very smallest councils to now use a .gov.uk domain. 

We can help as we work with 20i who are on the register of providers. This is also where our web and email servers are based. It allows us to provide a complete solution from web template, through email to domain.

We work with you, so that the .gov domain is registered to you and we do so "at cost" for complete transparency.


Example feature for council Services

It auto updates any page where you have placed the Services widget (Module).


Example FAQ feature

It auto updates on any page where you have placed the FAQ widget (Module). It which works especially well with the "Helper Bot" feature

Please take a look at the official website.

https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/new-in-22/

The MyParishCouncil template code has been updated to fully comply with these recommendation as per our promise to keep the template compliant at no cost to clients

Yes, we can arrange for a .gov domain name for you and also provide email addresses for all councillors and clerks.

Our prices are transparent and can be found on this page of the website.

Based on research carried out by ourselves in Jan 2025. We are by far the best value solution and most often least expensive with the most built in functionality of any supplier focused on community, town and parish sites.

You can contact us by going to the "Contact Us" page using this link

Yes. Just install Orchard yourself, grab a copy of the recipe (template) and install the recipe

Yes, the template provides the base upon which much more can be added. With solutions hosted by ourselves, we will deploy fixes and updates automatically to keep the site compliant

The council reports and audits are on the Reports & Audits page. 

Go to the reports and audits page using this link.

The concept is to provide a solution that avoids any coding knowledge but allows a clerk and the Parish to perform its duties. So clerks do not need to understand html coding.

There is a meetings page showing the next, upcoming and past meetings. They contain the agendas and minutes form these meetings.

Just use this link to go to the meetings page.

Most people just need an hour to get to grips with the basics. However, we can provide as much training as needed or even act as a virtual clerk if needed.

Yes, the Template is free. The template is referred to as a Recipe by Ochard Core and we will keep a copy of the recipe available for download and use.

The hosting is done in the UK using a shared platform to manage costs. Nothing is stored outside of the UK and all relevant legislation is accounted for with the hosting package provided

In excess of 100 Parish and Town councils are using the template and our hosting solution. 

We offer 2 types of training as standard

  1. Self help: This is available all the time and includes you tube videos showing how to use every feature we offer.
  2. In addition to our initial face to face training of admins (usually clerks) we also offer additional training in 30 minutes blocks . These costs just £30 ex vat per block

First look at the menu and go to the Training tab. or click on this link to go to the overview

On a special event involving a senior member of the Royal Family, government websites (including Parish and Town Council), are meant to have their home page taken over by a page describing the event. This happens most frequently with a death. 

The template supports this feature to ensure seamless switching between the normal home page and the Royal Bridge page. It then supports the switch back again after the official period of mourning (in the case of a death)

The template supports both types of navigation. In addition an alignment preference is available if "Top" navigation is chosen.

The image below shows an example of both "Top" Nav then "Left" Nav. The screen grabs were taken from a HD screen size (1920 by 1080px).

top-nav-vs-left=nav.jpg


council Testimonials

Testimony From Altarnunparish Parish Council - http://altarnunparish.co.uk/

‘I have just had a new website completed by TEEC’s - My Parish Council team and the whole process and experience exceeded my expectations.

The service was courteous, friendly and very prompt. The team I dealt with developed an excellent understanding of my individual needs and concerns and took personal responsibility for delivering what was promised in a very friendly, supportive and business-like manner.

This company is very easy to do business with, they get it right first time and I have no hesitation in recommending their product and service.’

Robin Turner

Altarnun Parish Clerk