The Digital Training Team are committed to support service users and the community that are in Digital Poverty. We work in partnership with the Good Things Foundation to gift out free data in the way of sim cards.
As part of the Digital Strategy, the Digital training team have been working hard on a number of initiatives to tackle Digital Poverty and make sure both our service users and staff are not digitally excluded.
Martyn Perry, Director of Digital Transformation and Deputy CDIO is a Community Board member of the Digital Poverty Alliance and active collaborator with the Digital Inclusion team at the British Computer Society (BCS). As part our Digital Strategy, Martyn is helping to shape the National Delivery Plan to address Digital Poverty which will be launched at the House of Lords in May, as well as sharing MPFT’s best practice approaches to help shape the upcoming NHS England Digital Inequalities Framework.
Free I.T. Stafford is a trustee managed and constituted, unincorporated non-profit community organisation, formed in January 2021.
We are a network of Stafford based electronics professionals, voluntarily offering our spare time, knowledge, and skills, to tackle e-waste and digital poverty in Staffordshire and beyond.
We're happy to help individual and family cases as well as organisations, but unfortunately we can't accept applications directly from the general public.
If you are an individual or family applying for free equipment, we ask for a referral from a reputable agency who can vouch for your circumstances, and who will act as intermediary between us and you.
Some examples are: charities, churches, community centres, support groups, health visitors, online tutors, schools or teachers, digital mentors, housing officers, work coaches, GP's, jobcentre agents.
If your application is accepted we'll provide your equipment to the referring agency and they can take it from there.
This is because we don't hold our own safeguarding policy or carry out in-house vetting or background checks.
It's not something we're considering implementing, so we rely on those in place with the referring agency, and it's for them to convey a brief description of your situation to us, and tick a box to agree that you are in genuine need.
Free I.T. Stafford Referral Form
In January 2
023 we successfully won a bid to access free SIM cards from the Good Things Foundation. These SIM cards have unlimited minutes, unlimited texts and 24GB of data per month which we are currently handing out to service users with pre-used Trust smartphones or tablet devices.
We power community-based services to fix the digital divide.
Our digital inclusion services, which help people use and access the internet and technology, are delivered by organisations in communities nationwide. These organisations are part of the National Digital Inclusion Network, and are at the heart of everything we do.
Like a foodbank but for mobile data, the National Databank provides free mobile SIM cards for people who can’t access the internet.
Internet access is essential in today’s society, and yet 2 million households have no home internet, and 2.4 million can't afford a mobile phone contract. This lack of access often affects vulnerable people facing other inequalities.
To ensure everyone benefits from internet connectivity, we built the National Databank. Launched in July 2021 with our strategic partner Virgin Media O2, the National Databank was founded to tackle data poverty and isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic.
By early 2022, Vodafone and Three pledged to support the National Databank, expanding our reach from 34 hubs to hundreds. In just one year this grew to over 1,000 Digital Inclusion Hubs providing free mobile data to people in their communities, and the demand for support is still increasing. As a result, the National Databank is expanding, ensuring more people can access the connectivity they need in today's digital world.
Get Online at Home have paired up with the Digital Poverty Alliance, to offer refurbished computers and broadband deals. Visit GetOnline@Home to browse their website and see what deals they can offer.
Digital Den (Shrewsbury)
Digital Den deliver internet access and training to local residents as a sustainable enterprise that provides employment opportunities.
The Den provides access to touchscreen computers and affordable 24/7 access to WiFi broadband services for the homes of the surrounding estate on a contract-free basis.
Shropshire Libraries
You can use a computer in all public libraries in Shropshire. Library staff will help where they can, or signpost you to other local services for more help.
If you are aged 65+, the Digital Skills programme offers one-to-one support at weekly one-hour sessions. Visit the Digital Support website to find out where you can do this.
MHA Digital Communities
MHA Digital Communities are for those aged 55 and over.
They offer a range of support packages to promote digital inclusion including projects that loan and gift devices such as Chrome Books and Facebook Portals.
They cover Burntwood, Lichfield and Rugeley and are now branching out to cover the whole of the South Staffordshire area.
- They provide drop-in IT Support on phones and iPads.
- They also have an IT buddy service where someone will go to the persons homes.
- They run befriending services, pen pals, dementia support groups, exercise classes, dance groups, lunch clubs.
- To access the service call or complete a referral form.
Staffordshire Community Learning
Staffordshire Community Learning provides free digital skills courses.