BT to create ‘silver selfie’ marathon this Mother’s day
BT’s Digital Champions lead the way in educating the digitally excluded on the growing Selfie trend
BT is calling on the digitally savvy across the UK to get snap-happy with older and digitally excluded family members and friends in their community, by teaching them how to take a Selfie. This Mother’s Day, a day that sees many of us with parents and grandparents, BT is encouraging internet users to help some of the 6.7 million adults 1 who have never been online and teach them something new on a computer, tablet or smartphone.
BT is urging 16-25 year olds across the UK to teach someone how to take a Selfie on Sunday 30th March and share the picture on Twitter via @BTBetterFuture using the #SilverSelfie hashtag. The most creative Selfie will win a brand new laptop and tickets to Rock Assembly, a concert held at Wembley Arena to celebrate the achievements of BT’s Digital Champions. The winner will be selected by a panel of BT judges and announced on Monday 7th April.
BT Digital Champions is run in conjunction with children’s charity the Transformation Trust and is part of BT’s Connected Society programme 2. Over the past two years more than 26,000 11-19 year olds have pledged an hour of their time to share digital knowledge by teaching people who are not yet online a range of skills including using social media, virtual banking and shopping and even how to find a job.
Anna Easton, Programme Director of BT Connected Society, said: “It’s hard to imagine that there are almost seven million people in the UK alone that have never been online and many of these people are of an older generation. Younger people have a natural affinity with technology so we want to encourage them to do something fun with older members of their family and the community. We will be judging the Silver Selfie competition on creativity, setting and in some cases, humour for the chance to win two great prizes.”
As a reward for helping others, BT Digital Champions win the chance to attend Rock Assembly on July 9 this year. It will be hosted by BBC Radio One’s Nihal, with performances by Misha B, Angel and Franko Fraize – pictured with his grandmother in the Selfie above. The full line-up for this year’s event is yet to be announced - previous acts included Chipmunk, Tinchy Stryder, The Wanted and Diversity.
-ENDS-
Competition Ts and Cs:
Competition closes at 23:59 on Sunday 30th March 2014.
Competition winners announced on Monday 7th April 2014.
Entrants must be at least 16 years of age. If under the age of 16 years of age, entry will be deemed invalid.
To enter, during the Competition Period, entrants must;
1. Take a Selfie with an adult that they have taught
2. Post the Selfie using #SilverSelfie
No maximum amount of competition entries per person.
Winner will be notified through Twitter.
BT is in no way affiliated with Twitter and entrants must comply with all applicable Twitter terms of use.
1 Source – Office for National Statistics - Internet Access Quarterly Update, 2013 Q4
About BT Digital Champions
• The programme offers an excellent opportunity for young people to use their digital experience to help others. It also offers benefits to schools, linking to the Ofsted framework, with an emphasis on SMSC (spiritual, moral, social, cultural), RWCM (reading, writing, communication, maths), and preparing young people for future education, employment or training.
• The initiative helps instil civic responsibility in young people and build community links. It is an ideal volunteering activity for courses such as the International Baccalaureate.
• The programme is flexible and schools can decide how and when to run the training sessions. Students can spend their own time training a family member or friend as a homework activity, or schools can organise group training sessions.
• Anyone aged 11-19 can get involved once a teacher at their school or college has registered to take part.
• As a reward for completing BT Digital Champions activity, the Transformation Trust is offering free tickets for the most glamorous end-of-term pop concert, Rock Assembly 2014 which takes place at Wembley Arena, on 9 July 2014. The event also features a Futures Fair including a university and careers village to inspire young people and showcase educational and career opportunities. Past acts include Wretch 32, Misha B, Tinchy Stryder, Diversity, The Saturdays and The Wanted, and a waiting list in the thousands. Tickets are awarded on a first come, first served basis.
2 About BT’s Connected Society programme
BT Digital Champions is part of BT’s Connected Society programme, spreading access to the internet and helping people to develop the skills and confidence they need to make the most of it. Using BT technology, and supported by digital inclusion initiatives, BT is working to transform people’s lives worldwide through better access to information and services to improve education, employability, health and more. At the heart of the programme is BT’s commitment to make sure more than nine out of ten people in the UK will have access to fibre based products and services by 2020. Find out more about BT’s Connected Society at www.bt.com/ConnectedSociety
About The Transformation Trust
The Transformation Trust is an independent children’s charity that funds extra-curricular activities in schools in some of the most challenged parts of the country.
Since our launch in May 2009, we have supported a range of opportunities and experiences designed to help young people to fulfil their potential. Our mission is to ensure the enriching activities, which many children are fortunate enough to enjoy thanks to their background and the schools they attend, are within the reach of all young people. We aim to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds develop new skills, grow in confidence, learn to work as a team, and discover hidden talents and interests. The activities are genuinely fun – the sorts of things young people want to stay behind after school to take part in – but they also help equip them with core skills, such as numeracy, communication and technological fluency, which are valued in the workplace and will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Funded entirely through the support of the private sector, The Transformation Trust works with high-quality third sector organisations whose programmes can make a difference to the lives – and futures – of young people who need that extra help. For more information please visit www.transformationtrust.org.uk
