A 19-YEAR-OLD app creator from Marshfield is encouraging others to enter a national competition he won a £5,000 prize from.


Ronan Finnegan won first prize in the fundraising category of the annual TalkTalk Digital Heroes awards on October 28 last year and was awarded a £5,000 prize for his creation of iPhone apps that incorporate donating into everyday life.


His founded his company orDonate in October 2013 and its first app, WakeOrDonate, is an alarm clock app that creates encourages the user to donate when they press snooze.


Mr Finnegan is now encouraging others to enter the national competition.


He said: “The prize drastically helped my project purely for the publicity aspect it brought.


“Since the competition there have been a few people who had stolen my idea and launched similar app's, yet still I receive emails asking when I am launching the app as people know I was the first with the idea.


“The prize gave me confidence in my idea. It confirmed that I should pursue my donating alarm clock app idea regardless of what happened. Without the awards this project may not exist anymore.”


“Treat the awards as a marketing campaign, you need to get your message out to as many people as possible. The awards have been very helpful for me and my company, orDonate. Go for it, only positive things can come from being a digital hero."


This year’s Digital Heroes Awards, which celebrate small-scale projects having a big impact on others thanks through a combination of technology, hard work and passion, are celebrating their eighth year and TalkTalk has invested half a million pounds in 87 projects across the UK since they began.


Dido Harding, chief executive of TalkTalk, said: “The internet is a huge force for good but there’s a long way to go, with over 10 million people in the UK still lacking basic digital skills.

"We’re passionate about the power of the internet to improve communities and want to find Digital Heroes that will inspire and support others through technology.”


The Digital Heroes are decided by public vote with one overall winner chosen by an expert-judging panel.


Find out more information on the awards and how to enter at www.talktalkdigitalheroes.co.uk.


Entries are welcome until midnight July 24.