Dundee champion joins list of cyber whiz-kids

HONOUR: Harris Academy pupil on list of ‘young people who have ruled the tech world’

An innovative Dundonian teen prodigy who made it his mission to promote his home city has been named as one of the most influential teenage figures on the internet.

Andrew Batchelor, 15, from Claverhouse, launched a Facebook page and Twitter feed at the age of 13 to support Dundee’s bid to become the 2017 UK City of Culture.

Ever since, Andrew has kept residents and visitors updated with events taking place throughout the city.

The young entrepreneur’s Facebook page now has more than 4,600 likes and his website, www.dundeeculture.com, is viewed by between 10,000 and 25,000 people every week.

This week, the Harris Academy pupil was named by youth charity, Young Scot, as being one of the planet’s “young people who’ve ruled the tech world”.

Andrew admitted he was delighted by his unexpected success.

Revealing his love for Dundee as the inspiration behind his venture, he said: “The first I heard about what Young Scot had said was when I received a tweet telling me. I hadn’t known anything about it until then.

“I had a look at some of the people named on the list and they include a girl who became Microsoft’s youngest certified professional at the age of nine.

“I’m quite shocked to be part of a list with people like that.”

Andrew recently launched a campaign to bring back Dundee’s Royal Arch and has already gained celebrity backing.

“I tweeted Lorraine Kelly about it and she came back and told me that she felt it was a great idea,” he said.

Picture: Steve MacDougall. Andrew Batchelor has been an online champion of all things Dundee since the age of 13.