news / NMCF UK receives award at the House of Commons

Kathi Scott who is based in London, received the award from the Kids Taskforce Champion Awards ceremony at the House of Commons, followed by a reception at 10 Downing Street.

The Kids Taskforce aims to help every child in Britain learn how to handle risk and lead a safer life. The organisation works in partnership with the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Chief Fire Officers' Association (CFOA) and the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and aims to set a national standard for the safety information delivered to children in school.

The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund was the first charity to work with missdorothy.com and the Kids Taskforce helping to shape an education programme for schools which teaches children and young people how to manage risks in life including fire, bullying, child predators, drugs and gun and knife crime.

The programme is based around a cartoon character for primary school children called Dot Com and a soap opera for teenagers. Kathi Scott helped to develop a character for South Africa called Bongani for the missdorothy.com learning programme which was based on a real child called Charl du Plessis from a school in Soweto, and won the first Kids Taskforce Award in 2007.

The Kids Taskforce work book for 8 year olds entitled "Making the Best of Me" includes a lesson plan from the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund UK called "Helping Others around the World". This is currently being rolled out to 4 million children throughout the UK.

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has shown continued support for the missdorothy.com learning programme, said: "All children have a right to grow up knowing that they are safe. As well as ensuring that all adults respect and care for children we must empower them with the knowledge and skills to make the world their own. The Kids Taskforce and missdorothy.com have an important part to play in making that happen."

Sharon Doughty, who is leading the Kids Taskforce, said: "Kathi Scott is an inspirational leader and she is a symbol of everything the Kids Taskforce stands for, which is the ability to work in partnership with others to make the world a safer place for children."