Digital Champions Help People in Highlands Get Online
PRESS RELEASE
Digital Champions help people in Highlands get online
A new, collaborative programme which will train hundreds of Digital Champions to help thousands of people across the UK get online officially launched today (11th February 2016).
At a time when the UK is moving to ‘digital by default’ and yet over 12 million people lack basic digital skills¹, One Digital is a unique collaboration between six diverse organisations to create a sustainable and far reaching digital inclusion solution. Age UK, the Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations, Citizens Online and Digital Unite with its partners Affinity Sutton and AbilityNet have joined forces to develop the One Digital programme which will recruit, train and support 1,400 Digital Champions nationwide.
One Digital is funded by £2 million from the Big Lottery Fund and will help around 9,500 people develop basic digital skills.
Each One Digital Partner will deliver individual and bespoke projects but all of the Digital Champions within the One Digital programme will access one single training and support network that provides structured courses, extensive resources and dedicated mentor support.
As part of the One Digital Programme, Citizens Online is working with Digital Highland, a local partnership of The Highland Council, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, SCVO and many local organisations. The partnership will recruit, train and support “digital champions” to help people in the Highlands develop their digital skills. The Highland team will focus on supporting people living in rural communities, older people and people living in low income households.
Vicki Nairn, Head of Digital Transformation, The Highland Council said: “We are aware that many people in the Highlands still need help using the Internet. This project will enable people living in rural communities to become familiar with the internet and access services online. This project will also build additional digital capacity by working together across key partnerships”.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Margaret Davidson added: “Central to our Council’s Programme, “Highland First” is to improve connectivity especially broadband and mobile coverage, across the Highlands. The Council is committed to realising the full potential of our communities and enabling them to take full advantage of that digital connectivity. This is fundamental to healthy, vibrant connected communities and the growth of business and tourism opportunities.”
As a new One Digital Infographic demonstrates, Digital Champions are an effective tool in today’s digital inclusion landscape where those who aren’t online are now becoming harder to engage and need personal long-term support. Indeed 77% of those offline cite lack of interest as their main barrier² and 26% of computer beginners do not use their new digital skills without ongoing help³.
Shona Munro, Highlands Digital Champion Manager said: “Being a Digital Champion is about helping other people to see how they can find information about bus timetables, register for school meals or order their shopping online. Our project will support volunteers and community organisations who want to help others benefit from being online.”
Digital Highland is currently looking for new volunteers to support their work in the area. We are looking for friendly and enthusiastic people to help local learners to learn about the Internet and how to get online. Digital Champions don’t need to be IT experts, just have the enthusiasm to support others to learn. Full training and support will be provided.
If you are interested in volunteering for Digital Highland please contact:
Shona Munro, Digital Champion Manager
Email:
Telephone: 07827 240452
All of the information about One Digital is available at
Notes to editors
¹Go ON UK 2015
² BBC Media Literacy - Understanding Digital Capabilities 2014
³ Two year longitudinal research study from Citizens Online – April 2015
⁴ Review of Hyde Plus Getting Online 2014/15 by Citizens Online
⁵ A telephone survey amongst Affinity Sutton Digital Champions, January 2015
For further information, case studies and interviews please contact:
- Digital Unite and One Digital overview
Katharine Teed 07801 138383
- Age UK
Sara Guy 020 3033 1430
- Citizens Online
Emily Harper
- Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations
Rebecca Stafford
- Affinity Sutton
Lucy Pond
- AbilityNet
Mairead Comerford
- Big Lottery Fund
Mike Clarke
About the One Digital Partners
AbilityNet (
AbilityNet is a charitable organisation that provides a range of products and services to help disabled people use digital technology at work, at home or in education.
One Digital will enable AbilityNet to expand their existing network of volunteers through standardising and enhancing their training and support so that up to 1,000 disabled people can receive free digital skills assistance in their own homes.
Affinity Sutton (
Affinity Sutton is one of the largest housing associations in England and has been a pioneer of the Digital Champion model in the social housing sector.
As part of One Digital Affinity Sutton will specifically focus on developing training tools to encourage young people (18 – 25 years old) to become Digital Champions and develop skills that will help them into work. These Digital Champions will harness the benefits of intergenerational learning helping 360 residents with getting online.
Age UK (
Age UK is the UK’s largest charity working with older people.
Their One Digital project will focus on two geographical areas, Oxfordshire and Leicestershire & Rutland that cover both urban and rural regions and represent a diverse range of communities. Led by each local Age UK the programme will formalise and standardise the role and support of Age UK’s Digital Champions in each area helping 2,000 older people to get online.
Citizens Online (
Citizens Online is a national charity that works in partnership with local councils, housing associations, job centres, corporates and the community and voluntary sector to tackle the issues of digital inclusion in a sustainable and scalable way.
For One Digital they will work with local partnerships in four target areas (Plymouth, The Scottish Highlands, Brighton and Gwynedd) on an innovative model called Digital Resilience. This model seeks to find holistic and sustainable approaches to digital champions by working in deep partnership and aligning to other outcomes such as employability and digital by default. Citizens Online will support 4000 end learners through 120 Digital Champions.
SCVO (
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is the membership organisation for Scotland’s charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. A dedicated team is working across public, private and third sectors in Scotland to increase digital participation.
Their One Digital project will identify, develop and assess the contribution that frontline organisations in the third sector can make with delivering digital skills to the people most in need. They will test a cascade model of training and support across 250 charity and voluntary organisations to engage 750 Digital Champions and reach 2,000 beneficiaries.
Digital Unite ( /
Digital Unite is one of the UK’s leading providers of digital skills learning with a specialty in Digital Champion training and support.
For One Digital, Digital Unite will facilitate the Digital Champion infrastructure for each partner project using their existing online Digital Champions Network as the cornerstone. They will also provide overarching co-ordination and support across the programme to support delivery success.
About the Big Lottery Fund
The Big Lottery Fund supports the aspirations of people who want to make life better for their communities across the UK. It is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery and invests over £650 million a year in projects big and small in health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
Since June 2004 it has awarded over £8 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people. Every year it funds 13,000 small local projects tackling big social problems like poor mental health and homelessness.
- Website:
- Twitter:@biglotteryfund #BigLottery
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