'Internet rangers' can win a laptop

BT is offering young people the chance to win a trip to the world's fastest internet café in Cornwall and one of 11 BT laptops if they take on the role of an 'internet ranger' and help the rest of their family learn how to use the internet during this year's Family Learning Week .

Family Learning Week - which starts tomorrow and goes on until October 15 - is a national awareness week run by the charity Campaign for Learning to promote inter-generational learning.

BT is encouraging 'internet rangers' to participate, after research highlighted that 23 million adults risk being digitally excluded by 2025 if more is not done to encourage people online.

The BT Internet Ranger Awards encourage youngsters to keep up the good work in tackling the digital divide. A new look website contains plenty of tools and activities to get people inspired to get on the web.

The Awards are open to anyone under the age of 16 who has helped an older person use the internet. To enter, youngsters can put themselves forward or they can be nominated by an adult - the deadline is 23 November 2006.

Mike Hughes, head of the BT digital inclusion campaign, said: "Communication is at the heart of BT's business, and we are committed to helping families improve the way they communicate, whether face-to-face, on the phone or via the internet."We want everyone to be comfortable using new technology and we see Family Learning Week as an ideal opportunity to celebrate the role that young people can play in highlighting the benefits of the internet to all generations."

Check the website to find out more about National Family Learning Week and related events in your area: www.campaign-for-learning.org.uk . Anna Lagerkvist