Joe Wins Digital Heroes Award

Monday 28 November 2011

Congratulations to Joe Bourke who has won a Talk Talk Digital Heroes Award. Joe was nominated by Cedar to be the Digital Hero for the Northern Ireland region. Joe was voted by the public to secure this title and is one of twelve winners from across the UK. The Digital Heroes Award recognises people who harness digital technology to bring about positive social change in their communities.

Joe is a volunteer at Cedar, where he supports a project delivering IT training and support to people with disabilities. Joe, who is visually impaired, has been using his expertise with JAWS screen-reading software to support at least 12 other visually impaired individuals to become proficient in using a computer. This has enabled them to get online for the first time, communicate via email, achieve qualifications and get involved in social networking.

Thanks to Joe’s successful entry, Cedar has now secured a £5,000 grant which will be used to purchase additional computers and assistive technology equipment. Joe travelled to London to receive his Digital Heroes award at a special ceremony at the House of Lords in London. His wife Susan and Marian Bryson, Volunteer Co-ordinator from Cedar joined Joe to celebrate the occasion.

Joe said, “I’m absolutely delighted to win a Digital Heroes Award. It means a lot to Cedar to win the £5,000 grant. I would like to thank all of our supporters who voted for me and friends and family who backed our project.”

Kieran Molloy, Head of Cedar’s Training Services added, “We are so pleased for Joe and would like to thank him sincerely for all his hard work and dedication as a volunteer with The Cedar Foundation over the past 5 years. The additional equipment that we will be now able to purchase will help more people with disabilities to access the digital world.”

Click Here for further information on how you can volunteer for Cedar