Nominet Trust Announces Strategic Funding Agreement With UnLtd and a Partnership with the Office of Digital Inclusion

19/10/09

Nominet Trust today announces a formal agreement with UnLtd, the leading charity dedicated to inspiring and supporting social entrepreneurs. This new relationship will strengthen the ability of Nominet Trust to support individuals and projects that make a difference to society through the Internet.

Teaming up with UnLtd allows Nominet Trust to source often hard to reach entrepreneurial individuals and community groups around the UK, and support their efforts to create, develop and implement Internet-based projects that benefit society.

UnLtd will provide hands-on support and resources alongside awards of funding to individuals and small groups who are creating new projects that reflect the objectives of Nominet Trust. The projects will focus on the safe use of the Internet for social benefit purposes such as education and inclusion. All awards in the partnership programme will be jointly approved by Nominet Trust and UnLtd.

Cliff Prior, chief executive at UnLtd, says: "UnLtd has a history of finding fantastic people with talent and a passion to transform the world in which they live, and supporting them to become successful social entrepreneurs - over 16,000 people to date. The Nominet Trust awards programme will enable UnLtd to build on this success by helping a new wave of people create social benefit through the Internet."

Nominet Trust is also partnering with and supporting the Office of Digital Inclusion (ODI) headed by Martha Lane Fox to promote and encourage digital inclusion. Nominet Trust will work closely with ODI to reach its principal target  - a group of 4 million "socially excluded" people who not only aren't online, but fall short in many other areas including health, education, income and housing¹.

Martha Lane Fox, British government's champion for digital inclusion, comments: "Nominet Trust will be a very important partner for the ODI. Its vision and values closely align with our efforts to bring more people online, safely. Together with the cooperation of a network of 25 charities, we'll be able to fund and encourage the creation of grass root projects that most effectively address the problem of Internet exclusion and accessibility."

Jonathan Welfare, chair of Nominet Trust, adds: "Through these partnerships, Nominet Trust will be able to provide funding, advice and expertise that will allow a greater number of Internet-related projects to make a real difference to society, whether that's through education, inclusion or safety."

1 Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/14/martha-lane-fox-interview

Notes to Editors

About Nominet Trust

Nominet Trust is a charity that provides funds for innovative projects, which strive to improve and encourage the development of a safe, educational and inclusive Internet.

The Trust will provide grants to organisations that can demonstrate vision and execution for Internet-related projects that make a tangible difference in developing a safe, educational and inclusive Internet in the UK and other countries.

Initial funding comes from Nominet, the Internet registry for .uk domains, one of the world's largest domain name registries.  

About UnLtd

Our mission is to reach out and unleash the talents of people who can transform the world in which they live: people who we call social entrepreneurs. UnLtd provides cash, development support and networking to people with passion and an idea for social or environmental change, helping them turn their ideas into reality through sustainable new social ventures. Supporting 1000 people every year, UnLtd offers the world's largest and most diverse programme of help to social entrepreneurs. UnLtd is the trustee of the Millennium Awards Trust.

UnLtd is the operating name for the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs and is a charity registered in England and Wales number 1090393.

For more information about UnLtd and its work please contact the UnLtd Communications Team on 020 7566 1137 or email: comms@unltd.org.uk

About Digital Inclusion Limited

• Martha Lane Fox was appointed as Champion for Digital Inclusion in June 2009.
• In this role Martha is supported by the Digital Inclusion Task Force which she chairs.
• Digital Inclusion Limited is a government funded by the Department of Communities and Local Government (through the Community Development Foundation) but is an independent organisation (that has applied for charitable status).
• Digital Inclusion Limited aims to build partnerships across the public, private and third sectors to support the 10 million people in the UK who have never used the internet.
• Digital Inclusion will particularly focus on the new tools that can help the most disadvantaged 4 million people of this group.
• Martha Lane Fox co-founded lastminute.com, Europe's largest travel and leisure website, in 1998. She then went on to co-found and chair the private karaoke chain Lucky Voice. In 2007, she launched Antigone, a grant-giving foundation that supports education, health and criminal justice charities to reflect her commitment to social justice.  She is non-executive director at Marks & Spencer plc, Channel 4 Television and Mydeco.

For further information, please contact:
Blaise Hammond / Gemma Griffiths / Siân Aherne
Racepoint Group UK
Tel: 020 8752 3200
Email: nominettrustuk@racepointgroup.co.uk

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