Staying active

In May‚ BT launched their nationwide hunt to find and reward the next young “Internet Ranger of the Year”. The winner will receive a laptop‚ £250 of vouchers towards IT equipment and a trip to the BT Tower in London to collect their prize on September 29.  Five runners up will also receive a laptop.

Entry to the awards is via the BT Internet Rangers website www.btinternetrangers.co.uk‚ and can take the form of a short written submission or a video entry. Young people aged 16 or under‚ can enter themselves or can be nominated by an adult. The deadline for entries is 18 August 2008.

So if you know of a young person who’s been outstanding at helping others get online and use the internet‚ now’s the time to speak up!

Many people are missing out

Not having the skills to access the internet means that many people are missing out on important information‚ access to cheaper goods and services‚ employment opportunities and ultimately social inclusion.

The BT Internet Ranger of the Year Awards are now in their fourth year. Last year’s awards received hundreds of entries‚ which demonstrated the inspirational work being carried out by young people all around the country. The 2007 winner was 14 year old Joseph Devries‚ from South Wales who won the award for setting up and running weekly Silver Surfer sessions for members of his local community. Read their stories at BT Internet Rangers website.