£10,000 Grant Awarded for Project which encourages School Kids to Teach Elders Internet Skills
Press Release
Date: 25th November 2009
South Derbyshire Woman Crowned UK’s 2009 Digital Hero
A South Derbyshire woman has been crowned Britain’s Digital Hero and awarded a £10,000 prize for a community initiative that encourages schoolchildren to teach older people how to use the internet.
Gill Farrington from the 50+ Forum in Swadlincote, Derbyshire was announced as overall winner of the TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards 2009 held at the House of Lords yesterday.
Gill has been arranging for local schoolchildren to teach the internet to the elders during class time for the past five years. The scheme helps older members of the community to get up to speed with technology and to feel digitally included.
But perhaps even more valuable is that the project helps both generations to better understand one another.
For elder members it has helped to breakdown their stereotypes of younger people, and reduced their fear of crime. Meanwhile schoolchildren have been able to improve key skills such as patience and have developed greater respect for their elders.
The nationwide hunt for Britain’s Digital Hero started in July. A shortlist of 36 nominees was whittled down to the final 12 by a public online poll, eliciting over 32,000 votes. These 12 were then whittled down to one, with Gill being selected as the overall national winner by a judging panel consisting of TalkTalk Group’s CEO, Charles Dunstone, UK Digital Champion and dotcom entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox, and child psychologist Prof Tanya Byron.
Gill Farrington, TalkTalk’s Digital Hero 2009, commented: “I was thrilled just to be shortlisted amongst so many deserving heroes, so to have won is just an amazing feeling. I hope now to be able to use this money to build on this fantastic project and fund more intergenerational projects, which are currently working so well in our community. I would also like to thank my committed volunteers.”
TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards 2009, in conjunction with digital inclusion charity Citizens Online, have been designed to celebrate the outstanding people who are using digital technology to bring about positive social change.
Charles Dunstone, CEO of TalkTalk Group, said: “Gill’s project won because it really captures the essence of the competition. It isn’t just about opening up the internet to those who’ve never tried it before, it’s about using technology to bring about positive social change. With TalkTalk’s £10,000 grant, many more schemes like it could be started across Gill’s region and indeed across the UK as a whole.”
Regional Winners
o East Anglia: Amanda Smith, Cambridge Housing Society
o London: Bernard Wighton, Richard House Children’s Hospice
o York & Humberside: Dave Wooldridge, New Life
o East Midlands: Gill Farrington, Swadlincote & District 50+ Forum
o Northern Ireland: Sean Og Mac Braoin, Media Ireland
o North East: Paul Atkinson, Apostleship of the Sea
o North West: Paul McCann, Twin Vision
o West Midlands: Susan Smith, Guy’s Gift
o Wales: Helen Iles, Undercurrents Foundation
o Scotland: Wallace Blake, Soar
o South East: Teresa Nissen, The Access Corporation
o South West: Tony Walker, Wolf + Water Arts Company
ENDS
For media information, please contact:
Pete Marcus
020 7638 9571
Notes to editors
About TalkTalk
• TalkTalk, launched in February 2003, is the biggest provider of broadband to Britain’s homes. It now has over 4 million home phone and broadband customers signed up to TalkTalk, AOL Broadband and Tiscali, which it acquired in July 2009.
• The TalkTalk fully unbundled network now extends to approximately 1,700 exchanges, covering 80% of the UK population, with 73% of TalkTalk customers now on its own network.
• In uSwitch’s Customer Satisfaction Report in 2008, TalkTalk was voted the best value for money home phone provider and the best value for money bundle (combining home phone and broadband). This is the most comprehensive survey of UK telephone and broadband suppliers, and is based on the verdicts of over 10,000 home phone and 11,000 broadband customers.
• In November 2008, TalkTalk became the first phone and broadband package to move away from the ‘one size fits all’ package. The Essentials package delivers value through choice by enabling customers to tailor a package that suits them. Essentials provides an award-winning 8Mb broadband service along with a great value phone bundle. Boost products can be added from £2 a month and enable customers to upgrade their internet security, speed and download limits as well as access great phone deals such as ½ price mobile calls, anytime calls and calling features.
• Follow TalkTalk on Twitter and on our blog: www.twitter.com/talktalktips and www.talktalkblog.co.uk
About Citizens Online
Citizens Online is a UK-wide charity committed to addressing and promoting the issues of digital inclusion. Our vision is "to make the benefits of digital technology easy to access and usable by all." We work closely with industry, government and the voluntary sector to deliver projects which promote social inclusion and community regeneration through the use of ICT and digital technology.
Contact:
Heidi Lloyd
Director of Strategy and Partnerships
01793 882800
heidi.lloyd@citizensonline.org.uk
http://www.citizensonline.org.uk