Celebrating digital inclusion success stories

Digital exclusion is a complex global issue affecting a third of the world’s population, including an estimated 13 to 19 million people over the age of 16 in the UK. People can be excluded from digital in a number of independent or combined ways, creating barriers such as social exclusion, reduced access to healthcare, education and employment, financial exclusion, and more.

There are many organisations working to address digital exclusion in the UK, to remove unnecessary barriers and make it easy for everyone to experience the full benefits of being online. While there is still a long way to go, this article reflects on three inspiring successes from recent years, digging into how they were achieved.

Rochdale installs mesh networks

In 2020, when the UK started going into lockdowns due to the spread of COVID-19, it became clear just how many people did not have access to the internet. At the same time, many of the services needed for daily life were moving online to minimise the spread of the virus, meaning that those who did not already have access were put at further disadvantage.

In Rochdale, the Borough Council found a new way to address these growing inequalities. Using a grant for community connectivity, the council realised that the most effective way to help local people get online was by installing a mesh network.

This enabled 4,000 people living in seven tower blocks to use the internet for free.

In conversation with the Digital Poverty Alliance, Vicky Burgess, Work and Skills Officer at Rochdale Borough Council, highlighted the teamwork of multiple organisations to make this happen, including the local housing association, a local internet provider Zen Internet, and the Co-operative Heritage Trust, whose nearby headquarters agreed to host the network.

As well as being determined to make the offer equal to or better than commercially available broadband offers, the council bolstered their efforts through free access to devices, SIM cards and data, and skills support. Burgess notes, “nobody’s given a device without checking whether they know how to use that device and that it’s fit for purpose”.

She reflects on the process: “It can be done, and it can be done very cheaply. It doesn’t need overthinking. It just needs people to be a bit bold and go for it.”

Charities champion online safety

The Online Safety Act 2023 was informed by many charities’ tireless campaigns for safer digital experiences for their service users.

Over five years, the NSPCC campaigned to transform the online world for children and young people. As part of this, they received 135,000 signatures across three petitions, and worked with 11,000 supporters to email their MP, reaching every MP in Parliament. The charity also arranged meetings between young people and Peers to have their voices heard on the Bill.

Meanwhile, the anti-online abuse charity Glitch campaigned to amend the Online Safety Act to explicitly address the safety of women and girls. The campaign’s success was a result of an awareness-raising campaign with EE Hope United, as well as obtaining over 100,000 signatures on a petition to ensure women and girls’ safety is protected.

Samaritans campaigned for the Act to maximise the internet’s role in suicide prevention and prevent harmful content. This included submitting evidence to the Law Commission, working with supporters to tell the government to make addressing the issue a priority and spread the word to MPs, publishing influential research, and raising their recommendations to Parliamentarians.

While many charities agree that there is further to go, they see the Act as an essential starting point for making sure people in the UK are safe online.

The British Red Cross expands healthcare access

Identifying a lack of evidence about access to healthcare for people seeking asylum, the British Red Cross partnered with Democratic Society to research the issue, and in 2023 produced the report, ‘Offline and Isolated: How digital exclusion impacts access to healthcare for people seeking asylum in England’. The research was co-produced by peer researchers who had lived experience of seeking asylum in England.

Among the findings of the research was the fact that online health platforms like the NHS app were inaccessible, with some reporting that the app did not accept Application Registration Cards, which are issued to people seeking asylum from the Home Office and are often asylum seekers’ only form of identification.

At Charity Digital’s Summit on Digital Inclusion, Simone Currie, Policy Coordinator for the British Red Cross, outlined the advocacy work that followed this finding.

The team started by mapping out key decision-makers and stakeholders, working out who has the power to make the necessary changes. On the issue of Registration cards, they identified NHS Digital as the key stakeholder.

Then, attending a roundtable with NHS Digital, they demonstrated how a small change to policy would have an incredible effect on the populations of asylum seekers that the British Red Cross works with.

The advocacy effort was a success, and NHS Digital were able to add Application Registration Cards as a valid form of ID on the NHS app.

Currie notes that this “was not a matter of national policy change but has now opened up a massive door of accessibility for online healthcare for people seeking asylum who otherwise wouldn’t have had access”.

Find out more

Our 2024 Digital Inclusion Summit revealed how charities can help can make the digital world a safer, happier, more inclusive place, from improving access to digital devices to demystifying cyber security. Click here to watch the session recordings for free.

Our report, ‘Digital inclusion in the UK charity sector’, uncovers charity practitioners’ attitudes towards digital inclusion, including the challenges charities face in reaching out to service users and how they are making the most of the digital technology they use. Click the link in the orange box below to download the report.

Our Digital Inclusion Hub features regular articles, podcasts, and webinars to help charities reach across the digital divide. Click here to learn more.