Michelle
Overton wins £5,000 grant from TalkTalk for the charity “Faith in People
with HIV” project
Pozitude for helping young people living with HIV in
Leicester and honoured at House of Lords ceremony
On 16 November 2011 Leicester resident Michelle Overton (Faith in People Women and Children Support Officer) was named the winner of the TalkTalk Digital Heroes Award for the East Midlands for her role in using digital technology to help others. Michelle received the most votes in the East Midlands and joined 11 other regional winners hoping to be crowned TalkTalk’s national Digital Heroes Awards 2011 winner at an event held on Thursday 24th November at the House of Lords.
Michelle won a technology grant of £5,000 to enhance her digital project, which was judged by a panel that included dotcom entrepreneur and UK Digital Champion, Martha Lane Fox, and TalkTalk Chairman Charles Dunstone.
Pozitude (Pozitude.co.uk), sponsored by the Big Lottery, is a project of Faith in People with HIV, a charity that provides HIV services in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The Pozitude website is a resource and community for young people who are also living with a positive HIV status to get support and useful information on what and how to deal with disclosure.
Michelle said that the grant will enable Pozitude to update its websites and digital offerings as well as to campaign through the site to reduce the stigma associated with HIV. Pozitude would also like to develop a smartphone application that will help young people who have moved away from home remember to take their medication at their set times.
Michelle Overton from Faith in People with HIV said: I’m absolutely delighted to win a Digital Heroes Awards. It means a lot to Faith in People with HIV for Pozitude to win the £5,000 grant. The young people who worked so hard on the project are delighted to have won and look forward to continuing to developing the www.pozitude.co.uk site.
The TalkTalk Digital Heroes Awards, ran in conjunction with Citizens Online, is the only awards of its kind to celebrate inspirational people who are using digital technology to bring about positive social change.
Adapted from Talk Talk Press Release!
Anyone living in Leicester, Leicestershire or Rutland who is affected by HIV/AIDS may contact us at this address:
The Lodge
Margaret Road
Off Gwendolen Road
Leicester
LE5 5FW
E-mail: enquiries@faithinpeople.org.uk
Faith in People with HIV is registered in England and Wales as a Charity (No: 1102534) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (No: 3318773)