U.K. Catalyst Award Winners

The UK Catalyst awards have honored eight different projects that use technology to help improve communities.

A virtual nightclub for the disabled, a car-sharing scheme, and a social networking site for young Gypsies don’t have a lot in common on the surface. But they all came together when each won a UK Catalyst award for its work in using technology to improve the lives of different communities, according to the BBC.

So Wheelies, a nightclub hosted in Second Life, and SavvyChavvy, the social network that allows young Gypsies to post blogs and videos about their lives, or Liftshare, a rideshare scheme, all walked away with their own Catalyst awards for making a difference were among the eight winners.

Sponsored by the Council on Social Action, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta) and the Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, the award winners received their trophies from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said:

"The worst of Britain can always be challenged by the best of Britain."