Charity Celebrates 5th Anniversary and Hits the £2.5 Million Mark

London, 22 November 2007: iT4Communities (iT4C) will celebrate its 5th anniversary on the 22nd November. As well as reaching the grand age of five, iT4C has also hit the magic number of £2.5 million in the value of services that IT professionals have donated to charity.

iT4C is the national IT volunteering programme of the 100th Livery Company, the Information Technologists’ Company. It encourages companies and individuals with professional IT expertise to donate their time and skills to charities in need of IT assistance. Without the help of iT4C these organisations would have to pay professionals to provide IT services. This helps the charities to operate more efficiently, which in turn, ensures that a greater proportion of the funds raised go directly to their intended beneficiaries rather than being spent on administration.

Since its launch in 2002, iT4C has grown steadily in terms of the value of its services, which currently stand at £660,000 annually. John Davies, Programme Director for iT4C says, “The fact that iT4C has seen such impressive growth in the value of its services shows that volunteering is becoming increasingly popular. Both companies and individuals are realising the many benefits of giving something back to the community.”

In order to recognise the invaluable services that its volunteers provide, the charity is holding the annual IT Volunteer Awards this month. The awards aim to celebrate the best and most innovative examples of IT volunteering and projects in four categories: Best IT Volunteer, Best Accessible IT Volunteering Project, Best IT Volunteering Project – Impact on Organisations and Best IT Volunteering Project - Innovation. The shortlist for the awards has been drawn up and the winners will be announced in a ceremony on Thursday 29th November at the Information Technologists Hall in London.