University of the Highlands and Islands student John Frace – better known for his website Travelling tabby – won the outstanding contribution from a university student at The Heralds Higher Education Awards last night (June 17).
In March last year, John created Scotland’s Coronavirus Tracker website which has now attracted 1.5 million users – and at the height of lockdown had over 1,000 people logging on every day for the 3 pm update.
The resource makes information such as vaccination rates, local case positivity numbers and other useful Covid-19 data readily available to the general public.
John’s Twitter following has exploded to 22,800 followers, including Professors Devi Shridhar, Jason Leitch, Linda Bauld, and the First Minister.
It is estimated that John has spent 1,500 hours (187 working days) over the past year on the site, whilst also keeping up with his full-time studies with the University of the Highlands and Islands.
His university said his selfless efforts have helped to improve many people’s experience of the most challenging year most of us have faced.
On Twitter, Professor Linda Bauld said: “The hours John has put in are off the scale, as a volunteer. He’s provided accessible information online in a user-friendly format and we owe him a debt of gratitude.”
More reaction in next week’s edition of the Dunoon Observer.
Congratulations John!
