News and views

From today, Thursday 8 September 2022, charities and community groups are invited to sign up to a new fully funded programme to build essential digital skills in West Cumbria.

If you’re a charity or community group in West Cumbria and helping people with digital skills, then this free offer is for you.

Getting people to become Digital Champions can be tricky. In fact, amongst the 100+ organisations in our Digital Champions Network, enlisting Champions is cited as their most challenging aspect.

Since the launch of their first digital strategy in 2017, Brent Council has been committed to helping everyone in their area with using and benefiting fully from technology. From helping staff and residents to businesses and partners, they have a clear direction to become a truly digital borough.

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To celebrate national Volunteer Week (1 – 7 June 2022), we asked the Digital Champions within our Network to share photos of their work in action. And what a wonderful selection of pictures we had. From sheer joy and excitement on using an iPad for the first time to digital inclusion in a pub, the diverse range of photos captured inspiring Digital Champion moments. Our judges chose three favourites and awarded the winning Champions a £100 Amazon voucher.

We welcome the Government’s Digital Strategy released yesterday (13 June) but were disappointed it didn’t do more to address the issue of basic digital skills and fundamental digital inclusion.

Being online helps people stay safe, stay informed and stay connected. But many still need help improving their skills and confidence to use digital technology.

When face to face support isn't possible, help can be given remotely - via telephone, video call, email or messaging. Our range of handy guides and top tips on being a Remote Digital Champion will help you make a digital difference to others, whatever the distance between you. 

In an effort to improve digital inclusion, more and more organisations are now coming together in co-ordinated partnerships to help local residents online. With fragile funding and tight resources, embedding a Digital Champion approach across several organisations and sectors can help to build capacity and deliver long-lasting impact.

Right now, the cost of everything is rising and millions of people are feeling the financial squeeze. Having good digital skills is one thing that can help. It means people use the internet to shop around, compare prices, access benefits and information and take advantage of special offers.

Clarion Futures’ Digital Champions Network is more than 10 years old and still going strong!

Here are some of our most popular guides and resources to get a Digital Champions project up and running. There's lots more information on the Digital Champions Network.

With remote teaching now a key approach for digital skills support, a new online training course has been created for Digital Champions.

Available on Digital Unite’s award-winning Digital Champions Network and the Digital Health Champions Network, the course gives people the confidence and knowledge to teach someone digital skills remotely, whether that is via telephone and email or using video tools such as Zoom and Skype.

Spring is in the air and to help put the bounce into your digital inclusion approach, we’re running a special training offer this March.

Join our Digital Champions Network by 31 March 2022 and you’ll receive 5 bonus training licences, worth £450.

Getting a Digital Champion programme going from a standing still position can seem daunting at first but with a few ideas and a bit of perseverance, it can quickly deliver the digital skills support your customers or service users need.

In the UK, there are an estimated 800,000 working age people with mild-to-moderate learning disabilities in the UK but only 17% are in work¹.  Covid-19 has exacerbated the problem as people with learning disabilities face further exclusion from the workplace due to the increasing reliance on digital skills, the move to remote working and rising unemployment.

In a Covid-era, when being able to use technology and the internet is vital, around 160 Digital Health Champions have been supporting patients with developing essential digital skills.

For Capgemini, a global leader in digital technology and transformation, ensuring everyone has access to the benefits of the online world is a cornerstone of their corporate social responsibility programme. And supporting people’s digital skills is one of the main pillars of this programme.

Mencap, the leading charity supporting people with learning disability, had been aware for some time that digital exclusion was an issue for people with learning disabilities. But digital technology is not its core business, and managers were not confident they could provide digital skills support to the 300+ local partner organisations who provide support for people with learning disabilities.

For Hexagon Housing, digital inclusion has been on the agenda for a decade, forming a vital part of their community investment work.

They have an established way of providing digital skills support through trainers and Digital Champions and have been members of our Digital Champions Network since 2018.

“"I've learnt so much - how to deliver digital inclusion sessions, promote the benefits of digital inclusion and the need for Digital Champions!"

The back-to-school season evokes a sense of determination and motivation to get stuck into learning. And learning new things has a huge positive impact on us personally. Amongst the many profound benefits, learning improves wellbeing and self-esteem and fuels confidence and curiosity.

If you’re in the midst of planning or delivering digital inclusion, then this is the event for you.

Would you like to have a sneaky peak at our Digital Champions Network? Do you want to know how it's award-winning training and tools can support your own Digital Champion approach?

Then join our free, no-obligation virtual tour on Thursday 16th September at 12pm.