Points of Light Award

We were delighted to hear that on the 28th of September 2020, exactly five months since the launch of the Scottish Tech Army, our co-Founders Alistair Forbes and Peter Jaco were recognised with a Points of Light Award by the UK Prime Minister, a truly humbling testament to the impact of the work that the volunteers who make up our community have had in such a short time.

Points of Light are people who are making a change in their community. Every week day the Prime Minister recognises an inspirational volunteer with the Daily Point of Light award.

First established by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, over 6,000 US Points of Light have been recognised in the USA. UK Points of Light was developed in partnership with the US programme and launched in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street in April 2014.

Since then hundreds of people have been named Points of Light by the Prime Minister, highlighting an enormous array of innovative and inspirational volunteering across the length and breadth of Britain. Details of the award to Alistair and Peter are shared on the Points of Light web site at https://www.pointsoflight.gov.uk/scottish-tech-army/.

Acknowledging the announcement of the Award, Alistair and Peter said “We are delighted to be recognised in the Points of Light Awards as a reflection of the tremendous work that our community of volunteers has been doing in response to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. It has been really heartening to see the response that we received to our call to arms amongst the Scottish Tech community – the level of commitment and passion that the community has shown has meant that we have been able to make a difference across the country, supporting many organisations dealing on the front lines with the impacts of the pandemic and the challenge of recovering from it.”