FriendsReunited thanks to our website !
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      BT Community Awards

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May 2002 Extract from BT website( British Telecom ) website article.

Two olds pals in Australia and England are rolling back the years after being reunited through a website created by BT Scotland man Will.McArthur.

 

When Will created the website for his old school, Dalmarnock Primary in Bridgeton, Glasgow he never imagined he'd kick off a global nostalgia trip that would end up -- back at BT !.



DHT L.McShane,  Webmaster,  
HT M.Winters 

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Will who works in Glasgow explained: "Ex-pupil Hugh Hendry, a war veteran who emigrated to Australia in 1955, stumbled across the website and sent in a photograph from 1935 of 25 kids in a street in Bridgeton, where the school still stands. He mentioned he'd love to hear from his old pal Johnnie McKnight.
Meanwhile, another former pupil, Robert Newbigging from Canada, read Hugh's entry on the website and sent him details of the possible whereabouts of Johnnie McKnight's son in Kent.
After many years of fruitless searching Hugh made contact with his old pal Johnnie."
While exchanging e-mails with Hugh, Will noticed that one of the 'cc' addresses was for a Willie McKnight at BT.com whom he discovered is Johnnie McKnight's son. Not only that, but one of the wee girls in Hugh's 1935 photo is Willie's mum Agnes.
Willie McKnight, who trains field engineers in Kent, England, said: "It's amazing. My parents are now exchanging letters, pictures and video tapes with Hugh in an effort to fill in the past 50 odd years!" Meantime, Hugh's sister in Huddersfield has also been able to contact a friend in Sheffield through the website. 
Will concluded: "It is wonderful to bring these old friends together."

May 2002

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  Yes.the websmaster makes a nostalgic return
 to 'The Dall' after many years!
 Gets his photo taken and has a coffee in the staff room..........
.E-mail from Hugh Hendry, in Australia, 29th May 2002
Hello again Will............Thanks for the message. Told you that your web was great and the BT article simply backs that up. I am very pleased with the article and it gives me a kick to see that the world has really shrunk  perhaps BT should use the theme that : "one is only as far away from home as the nearest telephone!"  (or in our case the Dalmarnock web site!!)  Keep up the excellent work. Best regards,   Hugh
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See Hugh's 1935 Fairbairn Street photo from the 'Bridgeton index'

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BT websiteAugust 2003.  It is not widely known, but BT does lots of work for charity and for the community in general. One of the many schemes in operation which benefits the community is the : BT Community Champions award scheme.
BT employees who are actively involved in community work during their free time are able to apply for funding for their associated group or organisation.
A panel of judges allocate grants to a cross section of groups who illustrated how the award would make a difference to their group and benefit their local community. Dalmarnock Primary School was among hundreds that entered the review and I am delighted to say was awarded a lump sum of £100.   Thank you BT.

August 2005.......

so impressed have BT been 
with the many benefits the 
school has reaped through 
the website that they awarded
us with a ................ BT 
Community Champions Award
of £150.  Once again thank you BT. Webmaister, Will McArthur an ex-pupil who left the school 40 years ago in 1965 was delighted to present the cheque on behalf of BT to former headteacher Mrs Winters, eagerly watched by some pupils from the school council.

BT's charity programme, BT Community Champions awards BT people with funding on behalf  of local community groups, charities and organisations where they work on a voluntary basis.
The school plans to use its £150 award to help promote its website. Headteacher Mrs Winters said “We are very pleased with our BT community Champions award. Our school moves on into the 21st century, maintaining all of its sound traditions and embracing new challenges .The amalgamation of 4 schools will be completed when we move into a new building in 2006/07. This new school will contain all the technology and technical features required to fit the children and staff for the wonderful future ahead and our school website will continue to keep us in touch with former pupils all over the world, nurturing the family spirit shared by pupils and ex-pupils alike.”

            BT project manager for BT Wholesale, Will McArthur, who applied for the award on behalf of the school, added: “ I have been a volunteer at Dalmarnock Primary School for 3½ years now and this funding will be put to good use in enhancing and developing our website. The BT Community Champions award scheme provides a great opportunity for community groups throughout the UK and every contribution makes a difference. In a short space of time our website has many success stories to name but a few:-
# connected old schoolmates who haven't seen each other for more than 50 years
# received countless e-mails and guestbook entries from former pupils and teachers
# unearthed over 100 old class photographs
# possibly have the first class photograph ever taken in 1895
# a Dux winners photograph....over 100 years old
# wonderful school memories and pupil / teacher profiles
# a school prizebook from 1893
# discovered that a former pupil was awarded the VC
# brought many ex-pupils back in contact with the school
   Etc etc its been amazing and I am sure there are lots more to come.
Its very positive that BT recognises the voluntary work of its people and supports the charity sector in this way”

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