Childnet Appoints New Staff 01 September 2003

Children’s Internet charity, Childnet International announced today the appointment of three new staff members to work for the organisation as it expands and responds to growing opportunities.

Ruth Dixon
ruth@childnet-int.org

Over the last 3 years Childnet has received a growing number of requests for advice and support. These requests have come from a variety of sources ranging from individuals and small organisations to multi-national companies and governments. In order to respond more effectively to these requests, Childnet has appointed Ruth Dixon as Advisory Services Manager to work alongside and support organisations in a way which reflects the charity’s vision and ethos.

Until March 2001, Ruth was Deputy Chief Executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, where she was responsible for launching and developing the IWF hotline, as well as heading up their education and awareness strategy. During her time at IWF Ruth was also elected as the inaugural president of the INHOPE Association, which facilitates and coordinates the work of Internet hotlines across Europe and beyond. Since leaving the IWF in March 2001 Ruth has been involved in designing and delivering law enforcement training for the Centre for National High Tech Crime Training within the National Specialist Law Enforcement Centre, and has also provided consultancy to a range of organisations on Internet policies, products and services. She will continue her work with NSLEC alongside her Childnet responsibilities until February 2004.

Ruth therefore brings a wealth of experience to her new role at Childnet, and will greatly enhance Childnet’s facility to offer sound advice and support to a range of organisations in protecting children and young people online.

Tanya Eddowes
tanya@childnet-int.org

Another appointment Childnet is making is that of Tanya Eddowes, who has been appointed to head up Childnet’s Academy programme which it runs in partnership with Cable & Wireless. See www.childnetacademy.org.
To date Tanya has been running an exciting Digital Opportunities Initiative for CWA New Media, New Zealand’s premier education media company. As a trained teacher, Tanya has worked closely with young people on ICT and education projects both in the UK and New Zealand and has a wealth of experience in developing online education resources for both Young People and Teachers.

The Cable & Wireless Childnet Academy programme builds on the Awards programme which Childnet has been running with C&W for the last 6 years. Open to young people (18 years and under) the programme seeks to reward young people who are creating inspirational online projects which benefit others. As well as marketing this programme to get entries from young people, Tanya will also be running the Academy week in London next Spring, and recruiting a range of mentors and developing training resources to help the academy winners throughout the coming year. The website is open for entries from 1st September 2003.

Tanya will be relocating to the UK at the end of September to start working with Childnet on the 1st October 2003 from when you can contact her at tanya@childnet-int.org.

Helen Penn
helen@childnet-int.org

As Childnet’s Kidsmart school’s programme and Academy project grows, Childnet has taken on a Project Support Officer, Helen Penn who will provide support for these programmes as well as assist Childnet’s CEO in fundraising and communications. Since graduating from University, in 2001, Helen has worked for a number of organisations and is keen to develop her career in the voluntary sector. Currently over 1,000 schools a year are requesting Kidsmart resources and increasingly Childnet staff are being asked to make presentations to pupils and parents in schools. Helen will assist Mary Louise Morris – Childnet’s Kidsmart manager in this work in schools. Helen will also help Tanya with the promotion of the Academy programme worldwide.

These appointments come at a time of transition for Childnet with Nigel Williams, Childnet’s current CEO, leaving Childnet to take up the position as the first Commissioner for Children and Young people in N.Ireland.

Stephen Carrick-Davies the incoming CEO says,

“We are delighted that Ruth, Tanya and Helen are joining the staff team here at Childnet to help us as we expand our work and strengthen the existing projects and advice services. We are very fortunate to have been able to recruit such experienced professionals who are committed to our vision of working with, and along side others, in helping to make the Internet a great place for children.”

For further information about Childnet see www.childnet-int.org.
For further Information about the appointments contact Stephen Carrick-Davies at stephen@childnet-int.org.