Big Lottery Fund looks to bridge the ‘digital divide’ with £15m programme
The Big Lottery Fund has launched a £15m programme aimed at addressing the basic online skills of people across the UK who rarely or never use the internet.
Schemes like BIMA’s Digital D-Day, which recently partnered over 5,000 school kids with experts from digital agencies, or the newly announced BBC initiative, have already made steps to bridge the gap by encouraging school pupils to consider careers in the digital industry.
However, the Big Lottery Fund is taking applications from national organisations or partnerships, asking them to explain how they could use between £5m and £15m to deliver face-to-face training and support across the UK for people lacking in confidence or knowledge about getting online.
“As more aspects of everyday life move online, it is vitally important that people have the basic skills to participate fully. The seven million people who have never used the Internet are at a huge disadvantage - enabling them to take advantage of its benefits is quite a challenge,” said Big Lottery Fund chief executive Dawn Austwick.
“By supporting the most effective approaches now, our Basic Online Skills investment will plug a skills gap and help change how people relate to the Internet. With our £15m investment, we have the opportunity to dramatically increase the number of people participating online – whether they are isolated pensioners or jobless young people - and help to prevent a huge division in society before it takes root,” he added.
The funding programme has been developed with charity Go ON UK which aims to make the UK the world’s most digitally skilled nation
Go ON UK chief executive Graham Walker explained: “Our ambition is to make the UK the most digitally skilled nation in the world, and it is through programmes like this that we can achieve this. One in five adults do not have basic online skills needed to benefit from the internet, and it’s high time that changed.”
To apply visit the Big Lottery Fund website.