Press Release from RIBI

25th January 2002

PRIME MINISTER LAUNCHES CITIZENSHIP CD-ROM

Citizenship is the focus of a new CD-ROM in the Rotary ‘Coping with Life’ series, a Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland initiative, launched today by the Prime Minister Rt Hon Tony Blair MP.

Speaking at the launch Mr Blair said “I think it is a fantastic innovation. It is using technology to get through to children, teachers and parents in ways which would have been unthinkable when I was younger. This is clearly understood by Rotarians whose work helps local communities both here and abroad in so many ways.

I congratulate Rotary on their vision in producing such a valuable and relevant resource and, more importantly, for making it available free to schools.”

The interactive CD-ROM has been backed by all the major organisations which advise the Department for Education and Skills on Citizenship issues. These include, The Institute for Citizenship, The Centre for Citizenship Studies in Education, CSV Education for Citizenship, The Citizenship Foundation, The Council for Education in World Citizenship, NCH Action for Children, The National Foundation for Educational Research and the National Family and Parenting Institute.

The aim of the Rotary ‘Coping with Life’ series is to provide a Rotary Library of multimedia resources for every school in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Rotary’s goal is to produce one programme a year. Each programme will tackle a different social issue with the aim of supporting children, parents and schools by providing information and advice on each subject area.

The citizenship CD-ROM is the third in the ‘Coping with Life’ series. The other two award winning CD-ROMs focus on bullying and family change. Rotary Clubs have distributed more than 50,000 CDs so far , and these are now available to over 6 million students, their parents and teachers.

The first two programmes address problems faced by children as they grow up, so, why do ‘Coping with Citizenship?’ An understanding of citizenship will help children in many ways. It will help them to; avoid problems in their lives, make decisions in a sensible way, make a positive contribution to society, understand how a society operates, appreciate the need for rules and laws, gain some political awareness and begin to understand relationships.

The ‘Coping with Life’ series is the brainchild of Rotarian Colin Sawyer, himself an ex-teacher and founder of a multimedia company. Mr Sawyer comments ‘Rotary hopes that the Citizenship CD-ROM will match the success of the other two in the series. Citizenship is an important subject area, as it affects our everyday lives, so much so that it has now become a fundamental part of the national curriculum.’

He continues ‘ With the vital help of the Department for Education and Skills, and the major organisations that advise them on citizenship issues, we have produced a comprehensive teaching aid that will be distributed to schools and colleges across the UK and Ireland with the support of local Rotary clubs.’

Review copies of the CD ROM on Citizenship and photographs are available on request. For further information contact: Judith Diment / Gemma Shewring – HBL Media Ltd 01628 418133/ 07860 162313 or Colin Sawyer Tel/Fax 01670 813470/ Mobile 07774 499388 email colin@sawyer.demon.co.uk

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Notes for editors

1. For more information on Rotary Coping with Life see www. Coping-with-life.org

2. Rotary is an organisation of business and professional persons united world-wide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help to build goodwill and peace in the world.

3. The coping with life CD’s are available for both secondary and primary schools, with sections for students, teachers and parents.

4. For general information on your local Rotary Club involvement with the Coping with Life project in your area, contact Colin Sawyer Tel/Fax 01670 813470/ Mobile 07774 499388 email colin@sawyer.demon.co.uk