News and views

An article for Digital Leaders, published Tuesday 27 March.

From our 21 year standpoint, digital credentialing is one of the most exciting developments in learning for our sector that we’ve seen in recent times. Undoubtedly when skills and achievement are acknowledged, people and organisations flourish. In today’s digital world recognising people’s skills and competencies in a digital way makes perfect sense.

Whilst many people can’t imagine life without the internet, others can’t understand or tap into the benefits that digital can bring.

For organisations, understanding how much it is worth investing in supporting people online is an essential step but not one that is always easy to make. This is partly because the benefits are multi-layered and therefore impossible or complicated to quantify.

In community centres, communal lounges, cafes and church halls across the country Clarion Futures Digital Champions are helping local residents’ use computers in order to access the myriad of benefits that being online can bring.

“I believe it was completing Digital Unite’s online courses and being able to put myself forward as member of the Digital Champions Network that gave me the confidence to approach the library to offer my services and I believe that influenced their decision to take me on.”

With councils experiencing unprecedented budget cuts since 2010 and ever-widening funding gaps, the drive for digital transformation has never been more critical. Increasingly more will need to be done with less. 

Worthing Homes has joined Digital Unite's Digital Champions Network as part of their commitment to providing digital skills support to their residents.

The provider and registered charity is one of a growing number of housing associations joining the Network as part of the national One Digital programme. Other members include Grand Union Housing Group, Hanover Housing Association, Metropolitan Housing Trust and Rosebery Housing Association.

We are delighted to announce that our Digital Champion foundation course, the Digital Champions Essentials and its Welsh equivalent, Hanfodion Hyrwyddwyr Digidol, is now formally CPD accredited.

Following an independent evaluation by The CPD Certification Service, the course was shown to comply with the universally accepted principles of Continual Professional Development (CPD).

Article by Kathy Valdes, Managing Director, Digital Unite as featured in 24 Housing.

Social isolation can be an issue for any age group. Major life changes such as loss of employment, having a young family, health or mobility issues, the death of someone close or new living arrangements can trigger a lack of contact between an individual and society. The impact of social isolation on health and wellbeing can be dire.

The Digital Champions Network is to be used to train and support up to 500 Digital Volunteers in Wales as Digital Communities Wales becomes its newest member.

Go On Worcestershire has become the latest organisation to join Digital Unite’s Digital Champions Network as part of the national Lottery-funded One Digital programme.

The Network is being used as part of Go On Worcestershire, a partnership between the Worcestershire County Council and 29 other organisations to ensure as many people as possible have the opportunity and support to confidently go online.

Grand Union Housing Group is set to create their own Digital Champion army as they join Digital Unite’s Digital Champions Network as part of the national Lottery-funded One Digital programme.

This month, Digital Unite's Kathy Valdes was invited by Skills for Care to provide her Expert Insight on how digital skills are an imperative in social care:

"The imperative for businesses to develop the digital skills of their employees is now a matter of survival"

Having the skills to use digital technology is a must-have in today’s modern society. It can save us time and money, make us feel better connected, less lonely and better informed.

A local rural library in Lancashire is just one of a number of small community organisations benefiting from membership of Digital Unite’s Digital Champions Network as part of the national One Digital programme.

In 2014 husband and wife team Brian and Linda with support from Affinity Sutton staff and the Mid Sussex Older People’s Council, started a computer support session at the Spire Café, Burgess Hill. The club is still going  3 years later, and has provided 500 one-to-one sessions with local people. The computer club is now run by a small team of Clarion Digital Champion volunteers, who are all part of Digital Unite's Digital Champions Network.

Digital Unite was delighted to celebrate its 21 years of digital skills support with its Many Happy Returns event at the BT Tower on Tuesday 19th September.

Around 60 people from a wide range of organisations came along to hear how digital skills support has evolved since 1996 and how Digital Champion programmes are now a key part of getting people online.

Great news!

Thanks to a significant Lottery grant, we are delighted to be able to offer individuals and organisations significantly discounted membership of the Digital Champions Network, including some limited free places for smaller organisations.

Aimed at housing associations, local councils and charities it really is a great opportunity to create your own trained and supported Digital Champion movement to help more of your community get online.

We are proud to be celebrating 21 years of digital skills support.

Digital Unite was founded in 1996 by Chief Executive Emma Weston OBE. Emma started the company driven by her passion to give people access to the opportunities the internet and digital technology provide, especially those who may find gaining that access harder. 21 years ago, with the advent of the worldwide web in the UK, that looked like home visit digital skills tutoring service for over 50s.

An exciting redevelopment informed by our UK-wide Digital Champion community

Get involved today!

We are delighted to announce the launch of our new and improved Digital Champions Network. Underpinned by Digital Champion insight and research the Network offers even more training and resources to help Champions deliver effective digital skills support across the UK. 

Great news!

Thanks to a significant Lottery grant, we are delighted to be able to offer individuals and organisations significantly discounted membership of the Digital Champions Network, including some limited free places for smaller organisations.

We are delighted to be part of the exciting new phase of One Digital which has received further investment from the Big Lottery Fund following its successful Test and Learn activity.

A pioneering initiative that supports people to improve their digital skills is being extended for a further three years thanks to £4 million of National Lottery funding from the Big Lottery Fund.

The programme, One Digital, aims to support people to get online or to develop their basic digital skills through the help of Digital Champions, who have been trained to provide one-to-one support.

A new course to help frontline staff with supporting customers with digital skills is now available on Digital Unite’s Digital Champions Network (DCN).