MEDIA | PRESS RELEASES
1999
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5 April 2002
UK SUCCESS AT INTERNATIONAL WEB AWARDS FOR CHILDREN
London based website among the winners at Paris Awards
ceremony
London website, www.bubblycrew.org.uk
was among the prize-winners last night, as the results of
the 2002 Cable & Wireless Childnet Awards were announced
at a ceremony in Paris. The annual international children’s
Internet awards program rewards children and those working
with them who are using the Internet creatively and developing
outstanding online projects which benefit other children
world-wide.
www.bubblycrew.org.uk,
helps young carers in Hammersmith and Fulham use the Internet
to reveal and share what it is like to have to care for
parents or siblings at a young age, and the site achieved
first place in the ‘Not-for-profit’ category
at the Awards. Fiona Side, Acting Scheme Manager for Children
and Neighbourhoods in London said: "The Cable &
Wireless Childnet Awards provide recognition of hard work
by young people. Many people have looked at this website
for the first time because it was shortlisted for an award."
Cable & Wireless Chief Executive, Graham Wallace, who
attended the awards ceremony, said:
"The bubblycrew website gives young people who care
for a relative the chance to share their experiences and
to see what others in the same position are doing, in
a way unique to the Internet."
Winning sites in the other three categories were:
Winners’ prizes include cash to help them continue
to develop their projects, and a week in Paris which included
the Awards ceremony, meeting other school children in Paris
and a trip to EuroDisney.
Emily Boyd, one of 3 young sisters behind www.matmice.com,
a website which has enabled over 50,000 other children around
the world to create their own home pages, won first place
in the Individual category. Speaking just after the award
was presented Emily said,
"Our website allows children to become part of the
web; not onlookers, but participants. This international
honor has created enormous interest in our site –
so much so that since our nomination was announced we
have had a further 30,000 children register!"
The ‘New to the Net’ category, included for
the first time, has been introduced to the Awards specially
for those who might not have direct Internet access but
who nevertheless have new and exciting ideas for Internet-based
projects and activities to benefit children. First place
winner in this category is Edukafaso, a small French non-profit
organization that helps schools in Burkina Faso to start
to use the Internet with their pupils and wider community.
Cable & Wireless Chief Executive Graham Wallace, said:
"Despite the huge impact the Internet has already
had on everyday life for many of us, 95% of the world's
population still lacks access to the Internet*. The ‘New
to the Net’ award, as a small recognition of this,
seeks to reward the efforts of those who have managed
to bridge the so called ‘digital divide’ and
helped to give communities, who would otherwise not have
the means, access to some of the benefits of the Internet."
* [source - World Resources Institute]
This year’s Awards attracted over 160 entries from
39 countries and the 11 selected finalists came from Australia,
Burkina Faso, France, Hong Kong, Reunion, Russia, Sweden,
United Kingdom and USA. A further 18 projects were commended.
The international panel of Childnet judges were not just
looking for technical expertise or sophisticated web design
work, but rather how children are using the Internet to
connect and engage with others and break down barriers.
The awards, now in their fifth year, are sponsored by Cable
& Wireless, the global telecommunications group. They
are organised by Childnet International, a non-profit organisation
that works around the world to help make the Internet a
great place for Children. Nigel Williams, Childnet’s
Chief Executive and Chair of the judging panel says,
"These winning projects show how children and teachers
can make the most of the Internet and create truly original
professional websites that can change children’s
learning, and leisure experiences. It is particularly
exciting that we are rewarding French speaking websites
this year and learning from those working in parts of
the world with very limited Internet connectivity."
For further information:
Stephen Carrick-Davies
Childnet International
Tel: +44 (0) 771 245 1859
Email:stephen@childnet-int.org
Ed Knight
Cable & Wireless
Tel: +44 (0) 7957 806 043
Email:ed.knight@cw.com
1999
| 2000 | 2001
| 2002 | 2003
| 2004 | 2005 |