News and views

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).

We were delighted to see one of our Network’s Digital Champions, Simon Cook, crowned Tech Volunteer of the Year at this year’s national Tech4GoodAwards by AbilityNet. The prestigious Awards recognise organisations and individuals who use digital technology to improve the lives of others.

Five new courses to help Digital Champions support those who face accessibility barriers when using digital technology are now available on the Digital Champions Network (DCN).

Noella is a Digital Champion for the Clarion Housing Group. She has been helping other parents in Croydon with improving their digital skills at her daughter’s school. The school has allowed her to use their IT suite and she meets her learners there before the start of the school day.

Sutton Housing Society has become the newest member of Digital Unite’s Digital Champions Network.

As a provider of socially rented housing in the London Borough of Sutton, the association has joined the Network to help turn staff and volunteers into local Digital Champions who can go on to support their tenants with using the internet.

John Peberdy became a Nottinghamshire Digital Champion in August last year. Retired and in his late 70s John had several years’ experience with using computers and was keen to put his knowledge to good use in his local community. Since joining the Network John has been working with learners at a local retirement complex in Hucknall, Nottingham using 'hand me down' tablets and iPads.

Digital Unite is delighted to be working with Nottinghamshire County Council on the delivery of its Digital Champions Network for the third year running.

Digital Champion Co-ordinator (based in Birmingham and covering North and East of England)

Two days per week (£160 per day)

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Digital Champion Co-ordinator to join our team in a new part time role.

Dozens of colleagues and volunteers have joined London Borough of Waltham Forest’s Digital Champions Network since the initiative was launched just four months ago in November 2016.

As an organisation that has been delivering digital skills support for 21 years we were heartened to see the new, long-awaited Government Digital Strategy launched last week (1 March) with a firm commitment to closing the digital skills gap.