ICT Champion COSMIC is crowned regional winner in the 2007 Edge awards

13/09/2007 Congratulations to COSMIC - regional winner of the Edge Awards 2007. COSMIC have won a prize of £5,000 for further investment into training and development of young people. Following their win in the small business category they will now go through to the national finals to be held in November.

COSMIC is a Website Design and I.T. Training social enterprise based in rural East Devon offering a range of high quality I.T. services to clients and organisations across the South West and the whole of the UK - and they've also recently been appointed as the South West's Regional ICT Champion.

Andy Powell, CEO of Edge said, “Edge is delighted to award this prize to COSMIC. The company has shown that it is creating some valuable experiences for young people in the South West and has shown that hands-on learning is good for employers and employees alike. This is a great example of the good work we want to praise and reward.”

Find out more about Edge here. The Edge Awards reward organisations that provide outstanding learning opportunities for 14–25 year-olds and is also rewarding individuals for their learning achievements. This year Edge is awarding over £300,000 to employers that provide quality apprenticeships, excellent work placements and other practical learning opportunities.

Julie Harris, Chief Executive of COSMIC said: "We are delighted to have won an Edge award - to have our commitment to the training and development of young people, (which forms part of our social objectives), validated in this manner is really rewarding. COSMIC is already very pro-active when it comes to staff development and training - this award will allow us to get even more creative in terms of the learning that is undertaken and the manner in which it is delivered. We recognise that our staff are our single greatest asset and that allowing and supporting them to develop in a way that benefits both the individual and the organisation is critical to our success."

COSMIC will be attending the awards ceremony held in London on November 22 to discover whether it has become a national winner.

ICT - a new opportunity for support from your Regional Champion

This summer has seen the first appointment of a Regional Champion for ICT specifically to support third sector organisations to develop their use, understanding and improvements of technology and communications systems. Julie Harris of COSMIC is leading this piece of work with the support of several of her colleagues.

Julie is travelling around the South West currently meeting up with organisations and consortia who have worked on ChangeUp and Capacity Builders’ plans to see how ICT is currently featured in those plans and what support is available across the region. She is also working closely with a group drawn from organisations across the South West in developing a plan of action to improve the effective use of ICT across the sector.

There are also opportunities for organisations directly to gain support. There is a programme of events about to be announced with key themes based on common challenges for organisations across the region. The events will be held at different venues around the South West and organisations will be invited to come along, join in and have some hands-on experience with some of the latest technology.

In addition, COSMIC have some funding available for organisations to take part in exchange visits with other organisations to see if improvements can be achieved.

Julie is also on the look-out for any organisations which can demonstrate good practice in their use of ICT for case study material. Please contact her if you would like to propose your organisation or if you have worked with an organisation where ICT is used highly effectively.

For further information on the work of COSMIC, please contact Julie Harris, Chief Executive on 01404 813226 or julie@cosmic.org.uk or visit the website www.cosmic.org.uk.

< go back to news list