UK Success at International Web Awards for Children 05 April 2002

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:
‘Individual’ category: www.matmice.com - Australia;
‘Schools’ category: www.ac-reunion.fr/pedagogie/cotamarp/ - Réunion; ‘New to the Net’ category: www.edukafaso.org/ - Burkina Faso (More information on these sites and a full list of final placings at: www.childnetawards.org/

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

Notes on Winning Projects and Other resources at www.childnetawards.org
Tel: +44 20 7639 6967