# Winners of AOL Internet innovation awards announced

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2005/08/21/winners-aol-internet-innovation-awards-announced/
- Published: 2005-08-21T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

AOL UK and Citizens Online have announced the 30 winners of the 2005 AOL Innovation
in the Community Awards.

Thirty charities and community groups across the UK have won £2,000 each in the
AOL Innovation in the Community Awards for their innovative use of the Internet.

The winning projects have shown how the Web can have a positive impact in areas 
such as protecting the environment, developing new writing talent, the representation
of ethnic minorities, and encouraging young volunteers.

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The annual scheme, run by AOL UK and the national charity Citizens Online since 
2003, is open to any community group or registered charity in the UK looking for
support for an Internet project.

As well as £2,000, each winning organisation receives a year’s free AOL Broadband
Gold subscription to get their projects off the ground.

John Fisher, Chief Executive of Citizens Online, said: “This year’s winners have
looked beyond the obvious to create valuable projects that have clear benefits for
their community, this year enhanced by the increased availability of broadband across
the UK.”

Many of this year’s 30 award recipients are planning to launch schemes providing
peer support, with several using audio and webcam initiatives to enable people to
share experiences and get support online.

The winning projects include:

**Somerset Youth Volunteering Network** in Glastonbury supports young locals with
their involvement in volunteering, community action and citizenship, including a
peer-to-peer mentoring scheme, youth-4-youth. The group will take the scheme online,
making it more accessible to young people in remote rural locations.

**Drake Music Project** in Edinburgh, which provides musical and technological resources
to enable people with disabilities to learn and make music, will develop an online
workshop to encourage its users to experience and experiment with assistive technologies.

**Ecodyfi** in Powys, Mid Wales, is a community-owned organisation concerned with
the sustainable regeneration of the Dyfi Valley in Mid Wales. It plans to put its
award towards launching an online organic gardening course enabling the local community
to grow their own organic fruit and vegetables.

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