iT4C Announces IT Volunteer Awards 2007 Winners

iT4Communities (iT4C) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2007 IT Volunteering Awards 2007 which were revealed last night in a ceremony at The Information Technologists' Company's Hall in London. The awards aim to recognise and celebrate the best and most innovative examples of IT volunteering and projects.

The winners were as follows;

  • Best Volunteer; Winner: Gary Axford, The Riverside Centre. Finalists: David Rodgers, National Phobics Society; John Stewart, Children 1st
  • Best Impact; Winner: Tamsin Crothers, 1Voice. Finalists: Steph Grey, Greater London Volunteering; Paul Campbell, Dawns New Horizon.
  • Best Innovation; Winner: Paul Campbell, Sevenoaks Area Mind. Finalists: Steven Bowers and Sally Grey, Berkshire County Blind Society; Pip Jones, Community Base
  • Best Accessibility; Winner: Leon Gilbert, Accessible Friends Network. Finalists: Robin Decadt, Coventry Society for the Blind; Geoffrey Walker, Leonard Cheshire Disability

Best IT volunteer winner, Gary Axford was selected for his work designing and delivering IT courses both in the Riverside Centre and on an IT outreach bus. The Riverside Centre offers accessible and affordable learning and training activities for both disabled and non-disabled people. Gary has designed a number of courses for people with learning difficulties and physical disabilities. As a wheelchair user himself, Gary has helped more that 500 people to access learning opportunities in the last 12 months. The judges believe that Gary is a role model to others and a shining example of what can be achieved through hard work and dedication.

The Best Impact winners, 1Voice, support children who are unable to speak, as well as their families. The charity hosts networking events where families can share ideas, experience and information about technology. The winning volunteer, Tamsin Crothers, fits her volunteering around her day job as a speech and language therapist. She updates the organisation's website, arranges for groups to keep in touch via email and ensures that all documents, such as agendas and minutes are available on the internet. The judges believed that Crothers deserved to win as the vital work that 1voice undertake, could not be achieved without her hard work and in particular her IT skills.

Sevenoaks Area Mind, the winners of the Best Innovation category, provides support to those suffering and recovering from mental ill health through community based activities throughout Kent. Projects include mum's support groups, peer support and a social networking internet site for people with mental health problems to support each other. Paul Campbell has been working to help people isolated due to poor transport systems, to support each other and to keep in contact using the internet. His work includes teaching people how to use computers as well as providing technical support where needed. The judges felt that Campbell's enthusiasm for the project made him a winning candidate, having turned a local project into something with national potential.

The Best Accessible Project went to The Accessible Friends Network, a small UK charity which works to improve the quality of life of blind and visually impaired people. The organisation provides these people with accessible home voice conferencing and the internet, as well as arranging social events and entertainment. The winning volunteer, Leon Gilbert has worked to provide live online training workshops for members having registered the charity as a training centre for EDCC (E-digital Competence Certificate). The judges thought the project was a worthy winner as it is the only scheme of its kind run by, as well as for blind people, and receives almost no funding, raising all of its money through its members. Finally it is the only project which makes registered training available to blind people in their own homes via VoIP technology.

John Davies, programme director of iT4C says, "We would like to congratulate all the winners and to thank all the entrants for their dedication and hard work in the field of volunteering. It was great to see how many people are giving their time and talent to IT related projects. Hopefully the inspirational work of our entrants will encourage more people to volunteer in the future."

30th November 2007