digital heroes award
Rory, who nominated Libby Bateman and the East Cumbria Community Broadband Forum for a TalkTalk Digital Heroes award, has called on constituents to vote in the national competition to find a local ‘digital hero’ for Cumbria.
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, people
are being urged to vote for their favourite local Digital Hero at www.talktalk.co.uk/
Rory said: “Volunteers across Cumbria are making a real difference to their communities with their dedication, hard work and unrelenting belief in the real advantages that superfast broadband can bring to
our neighbourhoods. Rarely is the work of our volunteers recognised, and this is an excellent endorsement of what so many are trying to achieve. Please take a moment to visit the site and vote for our north-west digital heroes. Libby and the ECCBF are special because the forum has united volunteer groups from across Cumbria under a common aim, and they have given thousands of hours of their time to achieve this. The spotlight continues to be shone on Cumbria, and it would be absolutely fantastic to recognise how important ECCBF’s work has been in bringing this campaign to the nation’s attention.”
Rory nominated Libby and the forum for their incredible hard work in driving forward community-led broadband initiatives, and has applauded the work of the ECCBY, which represents fifteen local community broadband groups, all of whom are volunteers. Libby, a community organiser with the Upper Eden Community Plan, has been instrumental in mobilising communities to make sure that they are active voices in the Cumbria-wide campaign to bring better rural broadband to the county.
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 are opening 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. Eleven of the Digital Heroes winners will win £5,000 to put towards enhancing their digital project while one overall winner, determined by the expert judging panel, will receive a grandprize of £10,000. A special Race Online 2012 prize will also be awarded by Martha Lane Fox. All 12 winners also get free broadband
from TalkTalk for 18 months.
The Twitter hashtag for the awards is #digitalheroes.
