Craig Roberts is on his way to artistic success thanks to WMita AOL UK and the national charity Citizens Online have invited applications from charities and community groups across the Midlands and the rest of the UK for the third annual AOL Innovation in the Community Awards, aimed at encouraging innovative use of the Internet.
Previous recipients in the Midlands area have included the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, which received funding last year for a new writing and drama project aimed at inner-city youngsters in Birmingham and Chicago.
Thirty award packages, each consisting of £2,000 and a complimentary AOL Broadband Gold account (up to 1Mbps) for one year, are available in support of new or existing Internet projects in the voluntary sector.
Organisations applying for the awards since the scheme launched in 2003 include community centres, disability charities, environmental groups, health organisations and youth projects.
Representatives of organisations interested in applying for an AOL Innovation in the Community Award can find full details of the scheme and download an application form at www.aol.co.uk/innovation.
Alternatively, they can request an application pack from ukinnovation@aol.com or calling the awards hotline on 020 7348 8390.
The closing date for applications is June 6 and a judging panel will select the 30 award recipients by early August.
AOL UK and Citizens Online will host an awards ceremony for the winning organisations in London during the autumn.
John Fisher, chief executive of Citizens Online, said: "We are delighted by the success of the first two years of the scheme as it goes to show how many exciting and innovative ideas charities and community groups are coming up with to engage with digital technology."
The AOL Innovation in the Community Awards have supported 60 projects since they launched in 2003, including a Web-based historical archive for Erskine care facility near Glasgow, an online environmental initiative run by the Forest Recycling Project in East London, and a crime prevention area on the Gloucester-based Brunswick Square Central Lawn Association community Web site.
