a call to vote: penrith and the border nominee in final of nw digital heroes award

Chris Elphick of Ravenstonedale Parish Council and its Fell End Community Broadband project have reached the final for a TalkTalk Digital Heroes award. Cumbrians who are interested should register their vote in the national competition to find a local ‘digital hero’ for the north-west.

TalkTalk’s search for the nation’s Digital Heroes has discovered three worthy local candidates, who will now go head to head to win a £5,000 technology grant to help further their cause. All over Cumbria and the north-west, people are being urged to vote for their favourite local Digital Hero at http://www.talktalk.co.uk/digitalheroes/vote-map.php, where they can click on a digital map of the north-west region to register their vote.

Rory said: “Once again, our own digital heroes are leading the way in this national competition. Please take a moment to visit the site and vote for my nominated digital hero, Chris Elphick of Ravenstonedale Parish Council, sponsors of the Fell End broadband project. Thanks to their dedication, hard work and unrelenting belief in the real advantages that super-fast broadband can bring to our most remote areas, they have come up with the first national community ‘build-and-benefit’ model, showing how communities can work with government and the private sector to build business cases to connect those final few homes. This prize money represents almost a third of the total cost of bringing super-fast broadband to almost 60 properties. Fell End have shown how this can be done, and the broadband spotlight continues to be shone on our constituency. It would be absolutely fantastic to recognise how important this project is for the entire nation.”

The TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards, in conjunction with Citizens Online, is the only award of its kind to celebrate outstanding people who are using digital technology to bring about positive social change. After calling for entries over the last eight weeks, TalkTalk has shortlisted the most deserving candidates from each of the UK’s twelve main regions and have now opened up the final vote online to the public.  The individuals with the most votes from each of the twelve regions will be honoured at a ceremony at the House of Lords judged by a panel that includes UK Digital Champion and dotcom entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox and Carphone Warehouse’s Charles Dunstone.

More information can be found at www.talktalk.com/digitalheroes