VODAFONE has joined forces with charity Promise Inclusion to help residents stay connected during the pandemic.
The telecommunications provider has teamed up with Promise Inclusion to support vulnerable people struggling to access technology, as part of its new Connecting Families programme.
Promise Inclusion works across Wokingham and Bracknell, assisting children and adults with learning disabilities and autism through workshops and activities.
The new partnership is part of a wider social change initiative at Vodafone to support digitally-excluded communities across the UK, and is also getting a helping hand from the Good Things Foundation and Royal Mencap.
As part of the programme, Vodafone has distributed tablets, unlimited data SIMs and dongles to more than 2,500 people, including nearly 250 families and adults with disabilities in the South East.
It is hoped this will help residents access support services, online education, and employment opportunities.
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Mary Durman, CEO of Promise Inclusion, said the charity has already distributed 13 devices to members in Wokingham and Bracknell.
“Our trained volunteers will be working with them to help them get online and learn more about how to use their device,” she said.
“We will provide ongoing support to upskill our members with a learning difficulty to become more digitally able, gain confidence and perhaps to become peer mentors and volunteers themselves.”
And Ms Durman said feedback from members shows the project is already having an impact.
One member, Steve, is now able to speak with his mum on Zoom.
“He will be so excited,” she said.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 1.9 million households across the UK do not have reliable access to the internet, and as many as 11.7 million people do not have the digital skills to communicate online.
The ONS data suggests disabled people have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and are more likely to suffer isolation.
Helen Lamprell, general counsel and external affairs director of Vodafone, said: “Our purpose as a business has been supercharged during the pandemic, in particular our role in providing connectivity and support to vulnerable people.”
She said these types of social change programmes have helped the telecommunications company support more than 5,000 vulnerable people to date.
Helen Milner OBE, CEO of the Good Things Foundation, added: “We’re delighted to be working with Vodafone on the Connecting Families programme.
“The devices have had a hugely positive impact for many families in some of the disadvantaged areas of the UK.
“Digital connectivity and skills are no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have.”
Phil Clark, digital partnerships programme manager at Mencap, echoed Ms Milner’s comments and said it is more important than ever that everybody is “digitally connected”.
