The South West Grid for Learning, Childnet and the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) have been selected by the European Commission to form the next Safer Internet Centre for the UK starting from January 2011. The consortium, coordinated by Childnet and SWGfL are currently negotiating the terms of this arrangement with the EC.

The evaluation summary report from the European Commission praised the partners’ clear track record of child-focused working, their unique practice-based education-driven angle as well as complimenting the emphasis given to the voice of young people.

David Wright from The South West Grid for Learning said “We are looking forward to working as part of this partnership and are excited by the opportunity that becoming the UK Safer Internet Centre will provide in helping to get key messages across on using the internet safely and responsibly”.

Childnet’s CEO Will Gardner said, “It has always been our intention in applying to be the UK’s Safer Internet Centre to ensure that children, young people and those working with them are fully supported in this important and diverse area of online safety. We are committed to continuing to work effectively with the key stakeholders in this area, and produce high quality online safety resources and to communicate the great work that is undertaken in this area across Europe as well as sharing European best practice with child-safety practitioners in the UK. We look forward to consolidating this in the next year and working with the many internet safety partners in the UK and worldwide in our new role.”

Published: 04/03/2010 16:16:57