We are proud to announce the winners of the first Digital Safety Awards, a brand new innovative awards scheme that recognises the best products, services and initiatives that help us keep our children safe online.
Our inaugural awards ceremony took place at EY’s More London Place offices on 24th May where we celebrated the best of online safety in the UK (see pictures of the event).
The Awards attracted a number of great organisations who have made giving children a safer online experience central to what they do.
With the support of EY we were able to shine a light on their good work and encourage others to do the same. See our shortlist to learn more about these organisations.
Best Product or Service for Parents: NSPCC and O2 – Net Aware
Best Product or Service for Children: YouTube Kids
Best Education Product or Service: Joint winners: tootoot and Professionals Online SafetyHelpline
Best Innovation: eCadets
Digital Safety Entrepreneur of the Year: Vicki Shotbolt of Parent Zone
What we were looking for
Products or services that parents can use to help keep their children safe online, that provide excellent safety benefits as well as being simple to understand and implement.
Available as an app as well as a site, the Net Aware guide is the UK’s only parents’ guide to 50 of the most popular social media sites, apps, and games that young people use.
Aimed at parents and carers of 8 – 12 years old children, the guide is based on over 750 reviews from an O2/NSPCC parent panel and over 1720 young people who reviewed 50 social networks and apps. It is a great tool to encourage parents to talk to their children about staying safe on those platforms.
What we are looking for
Products or services created for children that have online safety tools, resources or advice at their core. This category was judged by a panel of children.
Chosen by a panel of young people as the winner, this app provides a safer version of YouTube, including both popular children’s videos and a range of new content, in a way that is easy for kids to use. See the ‘Parental Guide‘.
A safeguarding platform and app used in primary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities, which allows students to safely report any worries and incidents of bullying, cyber bullying, racism, extremism, radicalisation, sexism, mental health and homophobic issues directly to their place of learning.
eCadets is a unique safety programme for children, delivered in schools, designed to protect them from online dangers. Pupils are empowered and assisted in becoming knowledgeable about how to stay safe online and spreading that knowledge to their peers effectively.
Currently, more than 3,200 schools have signed up to the scheme which has received rave reviews from pupils and teachers alike.
Founder and CEO of Parent Zone, which she started in 2005 to work with companies and organisations with the aim of developing practical ways of making parenting less stressful online and off.
Vicki spent several years working for children’s charities, including the Family and Parenting Institute. She often speaks publicly about parenting and digital issues and is on the executive board of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.
Each Award was judged by Baroness Morgan, former chair of Ofsted, Alice Webb, Director of BBC Children’s, John Carr OBE, Secretary of CHIS, Anna Feuchtwang, CEO of the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) and Andy Phippen, a professor at Plymouth University. A panel of young people organised by the NCB judged the entries for Best Product or Service for Children.
Sally Morgan
Baroness Morgan of Huyton
Alice Webb
Director, BBC Children’s
Anna Feuchtwang
Chief Executive, NCB
