MEDIA | PRESS RELEASES
1999
| 2000 | 2001
| 2002 | 2003
| 2004 | 2005
31 January 2003
UK CHILDREN SHORTLISTED FOR INTERNATIONAL WEB
AWARDS
12 year-old from Yorkshire wins recognition for environmental
campaign
Five innovative UK websites are in line for a prestigious
international web award, after being included in the final
shortlist for the 2003 Cable & Wireless Childnet Awards,
which was announced today.
A 12 year-old environmental campaigner from South Yorkshire
and Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital join finalists
from Canada, Egypt, USA and Italy – and have the chance
to win a share of the £15k prize money to help them
further develop their projects.
With almost 300 entries from 50 countries, the independent
panel of Award judges shortlisted Sarah Bowler’s Cool
Kids for a Cool Climate website and Great Ormond Street
Hospital’s Kids & Teens website for their “originality,
creativity and appeal to young people worldwide.”
Great Ormond Street’s Kids & Teens site has been
written by and with young people at the UK’s largest
specialist children’s hospital. The interactive site
provides a powerful platform from which children can share
their hospital experience with others and learn about medical
issues.
“The site caught our attention because of its simplicity,
rich content for different age groups and strong visual
identity”, explain the award judges. [See Notes to
Editor below for full list of judging panel.]
“It is an example of how a hospital can create quality,
authoritative information on issues relating to health in
a fun, child-centred and accessible way.”
Sarah’s Cool Kids for a Cool Climate website encourages
people to ‘think global and act local’, promoting
the idea of planting trees to compensate for the pollution
caused by modern transportation. The website’s ‘tree
calculator’ is just one feature which caught the attention
of the judges.
The judges explained: “the site is a wonderful example
of how young people can use the web to turn ideas into action
and extend an offline activity so others can take part online.
Working on limited resources, Sarah has produced a simple,
easy to understand website which has huge potential.”
Sarah will join other shortlisted web creators from around
the world – including a 16-year-old Australian cartoonist,
the US creator of a Harry Potter inspired online newspaper
and the web development team at Middlesborough’s Priorywoods
community special school – at the prestigious annual
Awards ceremony to be held at the Science Museum in London
later this year.
The Awards, run by children’s Internet charity, Childnet
International and supported by Cable & Wireless recognise
the innovation and creativity of young people, teachers
and not-for-profit organisations that have developed websites
which benefit young people around the world.
According to Nigel Williams, chief executive of Childnet
International and chairman of the judging panel, the shortlisted
entries demonstrate just how powerful and exciting the Internet
can be. He said:
“The finalists this year really do bring the Internet
to life, enabling young people to share ideas, express
their own creativity and use the web as a powerful tool
for learning, fun and communication.”
The Award’s ‘New to the Net’ category
will also recognise the potential of two brand new Internet
projects that are at an early stage of development.
Sierra Leone’s iEARN web initiative aims to create
an on-line resource, which will incorporate the issue of
peace and reconciliation into the local school curriculum.
The project will encourage young people who have grown up
in a country ravaged by war and conflict to use the web
to assist a smooth transition towards peaceful co-existence.
Aimed at young entrepreneurs, Biznet.com has been created
by two Egyptian teenagers determined to succeed in the world
of business. The site includes a ‘hall of fame’
and a business simulation tool – with an online magazine
under development.
For further information please contact:
Stephen Carrick-Davis, Childnet International 020 7639
6967 or 0771 245 1859
Joe Franses, Cable & Wireless 020 7315 4489 or 07961
338 721
Ed Knight, Cable & Wireless 020 7315 6759
1999
| 2000 | 2001
| 2002 | 2003
| 2004 | 2005 |