» ISP News »

Government Launch 80 Free Local Digital Skills Training Schemes Across UK

Wednesday, Dec 10th, 2025 (12:03 am) - Score 0

The Government has today complemented their Digital Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) by launching 80 local schemes across the UK, which will offer free digital skills training and other support to help some of the most vulnerable in communities get online with confidence (i.e. disadvantaged young people to elderly people and the homeless etc.).

The new schemes, which will be funded by the £11.7m Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund (DIIF), are largely community-led initiatives that aim to help close the digital divide and “deliver national renewal” by improving digital stills to help boost employment opportunities, save people money, improve health and make life easier.

NOTE: Research suggests there are currently 8 million adults in the UK who lack basic digital skills and 1.6 million who live offline altogether. In addition, people without internet access are estimated to pay on average 25% more than consumers who are online.

For example, disadvantaged young people across the North and Midlands will use e-sports to learn new digital skills and develop safe online behaviours; over 7,000 older people will learn how to use the NHS app to manage their health; and people experiencing homelessness will be able to access devices and data to get online to help them find accommodation and other essentials.

Examples of the 80 Schemes

➤ The Bromley by Bow Centre’s Connected Lives project, visited by the Minister this week. This will support residents who attend the Centre’s Welcome Hub programmes, like its community food pantry, by providing digital skills training and devices to use for practical life tasks like managing benefits and paying bills online.

➤ A project run by Age UK will help thousands of older people through events and skills sessions, to learn how to use the NHS app to manage health matters. Helping improve their physical and digital health at the same time.

➤ Sheffield United’s Community Foundation will trial using e-sports video gaming to help 400 young people build digital skills and confidence, and raise awareness on being safe online. The Safe to Play project will adapt e-sports as a vehicle for digital inclusion in their existing Football Club charities youth programmes. Each club will deliver a 6–8 week programme of weekly workshops and esports play sessions, combining practical digital learning for young people, within a fun, safe and trusted environment.

➤ The University of Bristol’s Future IDEAS project will bring together digitally excluded members of the community, and digital design experts to co-create a chat bot that will be used to facilitate digital skills and confidence building for the public. The co-creation will ensure the chatbot is built to understand the needs and capabilities of the people it’s being built to support. The chatbot will then be trialled in a rollout in community hubs alongside trained digital champions to measure its success.

Portions of the fund have also been allocated to the devolved governments in Scotland (£764,020), Wales (£400,368) and Northern Ireland (£267,249), to ensure this is a UK-wide digital inclusion drive.

Minister for Digital Inclusion, Liz Lloyd, said:

“This Government is tearing down the barriers to success and making the future work for all, not just the fortunate.

Being online is something many of us take for granted, but for millions it could mean a new job opportunity, quicker access to healthcare or a lifeline to the local community.

This fund will both empower community organisations to help those most at risk of being left behind get the skills, access and confidence they need – while also informing how we can help even more people in the future.”

The impact of these projects will also inform future initiatives to help get more people online. A full list of the 80 projects can be found below.

Full List of 80 Funded Projects

3rd Cleethorpes Scout Group

Project: Bridging the Digital Divide: Scouts Connecting Communities
Funding amount: £25,827

Project description

3rd Cleethorpes Scout Group is launching a community-led digital skills project, offering access to devices, connection cafés, and intergenerational learning to help local families bridge the digital divide. In an area facing significant deprivation, the initiative will build confidence, strengthen community connections, and create a model others can replicate.

Age UK

Project: Digital Champion Programme
Funding amount: £289,247

Project description

Age UK’s volunteer-led Digital Champion Programme will support older people with digital skills, devices, and connectivity. The project aims to reach 7,000 people through awareness events and over 800 with skills sessions, providing the skills and confidence to better understand and benefit from digital technology and explore how the NHS app can give them greater control over their health needs.

Age UK East London

Project: Include to Empower: Scale Up
Funding amount: £31,817

Project description

Include to Empower: Scale Up will improve digital access for underrepresented groups in City & Hackney: older adults, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and those facing financial hardship. Using a Train-the-Trainer model, partnerships, and culturally relevant resources, it aims to boost confidence, NHS App uptake, and health outcomes.

Age UK Westminster

Project: Digital Together
Funding amount: £47,781

Project description

This project aims to reduce digital exclusion among Westminster’s older Global Community residents by providing tailored, accessible, and culturally inclusive digital support with a particular focus on AI technology and its practical uses for older people. Activities will include one-to-one support, workshops, device loans, and AI demonstrations to foster digital skills, confidence, independence, and ongoing engagement.

Apps for Good

Project: Community Computing Clubs – Increasing young peoples confidence in using digital technology to shape their future.
Funding amount: £100,000

Project description

Apps for Good will launch twenty new computing clubs in disadvantaged schools, engaging 400 young people aged 11–15. Clubs will focus on digital skills, teamwork, and social impact. This will include helping students to create app prototypes to solve local issues, improving digital literacy, confidence, and essential skills.

Aston University

Project: Digital Futures Work Experience Programme
Funding amount: £261,577

Project description

The Digital Futures Work Experience Programme, delivered through the We Job Box platform, offers disadvantaged youth 50 hours of employer-led digital and AI-focused activities. With structured, safeguarded access and equipment, it uses virtual simulations and employer challenges to build skills, confidence, and career readiness, addressing digital poverty and supporting progression.

Bassetlaw Community and Voluntary Service

Project: Tackling Technology Together – Bassetlaw
Funding amount: £120,000

Project description

A community-led programme which will support over 500 people from marginalised groups, including those in deprived areas with a focus on frailty, carers and individuals with mental health needs. It will use local hubs, trained volunteers, and tech packs to help participants build confidence, reduce isolation, access NHS apps, and manage their health effectively.

Be Free Campaign

Project: Mind the Gap: Digital Skills for Mental Health
Funding amount: £40,000

Project description

The Digital Mental Health Ambassadors: Inclusion pilot will empower Liverpool’s disadvantaged youth aged 11-25 through digital literacy, AI awareness, and mental health support. By providing devices and data, training ambassadors and delivering sessions to tackle digital poverty, this project aims to improve confidence, wellbeing, and long-term community impact.

Beech Hill Community Primary School Charity

Project: Digital Futures: Building an Inclusive Computing Suite for Every Child
Funding amount: £37,405

Project description

Digital Futures aims to transform computing education in a disadvantaged Luton primary school by creating a modern computing suite, enhancing digital skills and inclusion. The project will focus on infrastructure, curriculum integration, staff development, and community engagement to address digital inequalities and foster lasting educational equity for all pupils.

Birmingham Settlement

Project: Cyber Savvy
Funding amount: £26,053

Project description

Cyber Savvy aims to tackle digital exclusion in Birmingham’s most deprived areas by providing digital skills, confidence-building, and access to devices for older people, low-income households, and people with disabilities. This will help them participate safely online, manage their finances, and access essential public services through friendly, community-based support and workshops.

Blue Magpie Foundation

Project: NextGen Dev
Funding amount: £30,000

Project description

NextGen Dev will equip 200 digitally excluded young people (aged 14–25), including NEETs and justice-involved youth, with coding, app development, and ethical hacking skills. The programme will combine advanced digital training, mentoring, and employment pathways to boost confidence, reduce reoffending, and improve education and job prospects.

Blueprint for All

Project: Scaling ‘My Blueprint for All’ for greater access and digital equality
Funding amount: £83,491

Project description

Building on the success of My Blueprint for All in 2023, this project will leverage a digital platform to support young people with accessible education, skills, and employment opportunities. Targeting underserved towns, rural, and coastal communities, it will offer career resources, partnerships, workshops, and mentorship. It aims to improve digital confidence and employability for hundreds more participants.

Boundary Community School

Project: Boundary IT Zone (BITZ)
Funding amount: £32,248

Project description

The Boundary IT Zone project aims to support at least 100 marginalised minority ethnic residents of Tower Hamlets. The project will improve digital literacy skills and empower this group to be able to engage with digital services and employment opportunities.

Cambridge Online

Project: Digital Inclusion Fenland
Funding amount: £36,030

Project description

Cambridge Online aims to create up to 5 digital inclusion hubs in Fenland, providing free devices, training, and ongoing support. These hubs will target digitally excluded individuals, especially older adults, offering group and home-based coaching to foster digital independence, social connection, and access to essential online services.

Citizen’s Advice Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent

Project: Digital Inclusion and Advice Transformation with WyserASSIST
Funding amount: £121,500

Project description

This Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Moorlands project primarily provides digital advice sessions. Targeting digitally excluded people, the programme will focus on digital skills and resilience, including online banking and job searching, and practical training to ensure participants can operate safely and confidently online. The project will also support work to improve the efficiency of advice sessions and the integration of WyserASSIST technology.

Carers in Bedfordshire

Project: Carers Online Portal
Funding amount: £68,193

Project description

Carers in Bedfordshire will expand digital inclusion support for unpaid carers across Bedfordshire and the wider region, introducing a mobile-first, self-service digital platform designed to remove barriers to support for unpaid carers, particularly those who are digitally excluded or unaware of the help available to them.

Coalfields Regeneration Trust

Project: Coalfields Game Academy
Funding amount: £75,710

Project description

The Coalfields Game Academy will help young people aged 15–19, and living in some of the UK’s most disadvantaged coalfield neighbourhoods, by using video gaming as a tool to improve digital inclusion, build confidence, and enhance employability. Online courses and direct engagement with professionals from the gaming and tech industries will help participants learn valuable digital and workplace skills. They will also have the chance to earn recognised qualifications and receive support to progress into further education, training, or employment. These young people will also have an opportunity to share their new skills and experiences, helping to create more digital opportunities within their own communities.

Collar and Tie Ltd

Project: Power Up: Gamifying Essential Digital Skills Acquisition for Economically Disadvantaged Young People
Funding amount: £49,972

Project description

This project will empower over 200 disadvantaged young people in Bootle, Redditch, and Gloucester by gamifying digital skills workshops. Using creative, hybrid teaching and peer collaboration, participants will gain practical abilities, confidence, and pathways to qualifications, while systematically testing a novel, community-embedded model for digital inclusion to generate new knowledge on whether this integrated approach achieves more sustainable outcomes than traditional methods.

Communities First Foundation

Project: Digital Futures Croydon: Skills, Access and Opportunity For All
Funding amount: £133,485

Project description

Digital Futures Croydon aims to close Croydon’s digital divide by providing devices, training, and support to 500 digitally excluded residents. The programme will deliver workshops, accredited courses, and job-matching services, empowering participants with essential skills and employment pathways.

Community Alliance Broxbourne and East Herts

Project: Health Clicks: Improving Health Outcomes through Digital Skills
Funding amount: £40,868

Project description

Health Clicks will pilot training for digitally excluded Hertfordshire residents with health conditions, focusing on the elderly, disabled, and low-income individuals. Community partners will deliver training on the use of the NHS App and Doccla, aiming to improve wellbeing and reduce NHS pressures by improving digital inclusion.

Community Drug and Alcohol Recovery Services

Project: Community Drug and Alcohol Recovery Services (CDARS) Digital Inclusion Programme
Funding amount: £62,025

Project description

CDARS will support 96 vulnerable individuals in South West London (Merton, Sutton, Kingston, Richmond) with digital skills training, employability support, and essential life skills, aiming to reduce isolation and improve integration into the community and job market. Participants may also receive access to devices following successful completion of the programme if needed, to further their digital skills.

Coquet Trust

Project: Assistive Technology – Digital Inclusion
Funding amount: £100,000

Project description

Coquet Trust’s Assistive Technology programme will integrate personalised digital tools into everyday support, promoting independence, safety, and meaningful connection for people with learning disabilities, mental health, and complex needs. Through thoughtful assessment, training, and real-world evaluation, the project aims to build an inclusive support model that enables people to thrive.

Coventry Citizens Advice

Project: Coventry Citizens Advice Digital Access Hub
Funding amount: £36,698

Project description

The Digital Access Hub will provide city centre digital support, empowering vulnerable groups to complete essential online tasks and build lasting digital confidence. With volunteer assistance and adviser-led sessions, the project aims to boost digital skills, tackle device poverty, and increase confidence.

Coventry University

Project: From Farm to Family: Digital Inclusion for Equitable Access to Local Food
Funding amount: £216,298

Project description

This project will empower small producers and low-income households by providing devices, digital skills, and a technical interface for welfare cards on the Open Food Network. It will expand access to healthy local food, support local economies, and generate evidence on digital inclusion and food access for future replication.

COVO Connecting Voices

Project: Seniors Go Digital
Funding amount: £26,200

Project description

The Seniors Go Digital programme will provide hands-on iPad training to at least 100 older adults. The aim is to reduce isolation, boost digital confidence, and improve access to services. Personalised support and practical workshops will help seniors connect with family, manage healthcare, and engage with their community.

DIGIT

Project: EcoCode – Digital skills contextualised through sustainability and climate action
Funding amount: £176,625

Project description

The expansion of EcoCode will extend support to over 1000 children and hundreds of educators. The project will also indirectly reach over 17,000 young people. Through face-to-face training, workshops, and resource creation this project will boost digital skills and young people’s confidence to engage with digital society.

Ekota Academy

Project: Barking and Dagenham Libraries Digital Inclusion Project
Funding amount: £410,215

Project description

The project aims to tackle digital exclusion for disadvantaged groups by scaling up device loans, free data and digital skills training across Barking and Dagenham. It will train 3000 residents, recruit Digital Champions and transform libraries into 6 Digital Inclusion Hubs, strengthening community participation and digital inclusion.

Essex County Council

Project: Social return on investment of essential digital skills delivery leading to digital service usage
Funding amount: £375,023

Project description

This project will expand Essex’s Digital Help Finder platform across 5 counties and develop a scalable social impact measurement for digital inclusion. It will support over 100 excluded adults to learn the skills to use essential apps, generating insights to inform national policy and future funding decisions.

Family Fund

Project: Discover Digital Inclusion – Your Opportunity
Funding amount: £59,514

Project description

Family Fund’s ‘Discover Digital Inclusion: Your Opportunity’ project seeks to empower disabled young people aged 18–24 with digital skills through tailored mentoring, workshops, and creative learning. The project will foster independence, accredited learning, and peer support, helping over 200 participants progress from digital exclusion to confident, connected, and employable digital citizens.

Forest Voluntary Action Forum

Project: The DIGI (Digital Inclusion Gloucestershire Initiative) Home Visit Project
Funding amount: £95,063

Project description

The Digi@Home Visit Project will support at least 36 housebound residents in Gloucestershire (older people, disabled people, carers, and individuals in refuges) through structured volunteer-led visits. Working through the Gloucestershire DIGI Partnership providing 12 trained Digital Champions and refurbished devices, the project with co-design a delivery tool-kit and aims to boost NHS App uptake, digital confidence, health access, and wellbeing.

Friends of St Christophers School

Project: Voice Beyond Words: iPad-Based Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for Non-Verbal Autistic Pupils
Funding amount: £45,000

Project description

Voice Beyond Words will support a cohort of non-verbal autistic pupils aged 3–19 with iPads, Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) software, and comprehensive training. Pupils will develop digital communication skills while families will receive structured support to embed support at home, and local service providers will be engaged to improve accessibility of digital health, education, and government platforms.

FUTURE CHALLENGES-UK

Project: A 15-Months BAME Digital Bridge Initiative
Funding amount: £41,395

Project description

This project aims to reduce digital exclusion for disabled BAME communities in Leeds and Bradford through culturally tailored Digital Hubs, skills training, peer support, and assistive technology. This will support greater empowerment, social connection, and long-term community resilience for at least 300 participants.

FutureDotNow

Project: Essential Digital Skills and AI Employability Pilot (South-West)
Funding amount: £156,945

Project description

This project will equip unemployed people with essential digital and AI skills, leveraging local industry partnerships and the successful Restart government programme. It will deliver tailored training, boost employability, connect candidates and employers, and develop a scalable toolkit on how to improve digital inclusion and job readiness.

Gedling Borough Council

Project: Outside In: The wise kids and the whizz kids
Funding amount: £36,100

Project description

This project will bring together a diverse group of younger and older people who will engage with existing council and 3rd party data to co-design and pilot a research and delivery plan focused on addressing barriers to digital services for target groups at risk of digital exclusion. The aim is to derive new insights and to try interventions that are co-designed with members of the community.

Good Things Foundation

Project: Supporting Local Authorities to Assess and Embed Digital Inclusion
Funding amount: £238,131

Project description

Good Things Foundation leads a new initiative to make it easier for local authorities to ensure everyone can participate in our digital society. Working in Barnsley, Cornwall and Middlesborough, the project will gather evidence, refine an accessible framework for councils and community organisations and create a What Works? Co-Lab report, to share lessons learned.

Groundwork Yorkshire

Project: Digital Doctors
Funding amount: £304,365

Project description

Through 5 Groundwork Trusts, the Digital Doctors project will support a range of vulnerable people and households in northern England by providing tailored digital and financial inclusion support. Participants will benefit from access to devices and 1-to-1 support to manage budgets and build financial confidence through digital training and skills, helping to improve digital literacy and financial resilience.

HARP, Homelessness Action Resource Project

Project: Digital Pathways to Recovery – Building Skills, Confidence and Belonging
Funding amount: £189,902

Project description

HARP’s Digital Pathway to Recovery will integrate supervised digital access and training into homelessness support, promoting digital skills, safety, and independence. Activities will span multiple sites and focus on practical participation. The project aims for measurable improvements in digital confidence and a scalable model for embedding digital inclusion in recovery services.

Hertsmere Borough Council

Project: Elstree Immersive Digital Inclusion Hub – Hertsmere Community Innovation Pilot
Funding amount: £250,000

Project description

The Elstree Immersive Digital Inclusion Hub pilot aims to tackle digital exclusion in Hertsmere by providing technology access, digital skills training, and educational programmes. Focused on under-represented groups, the project will embed digital inclusion within a cultural centre, delivering community impact and promoting long-term skills and innovation.

IDEA Foundation

Project: iDEA Community Connect
Funding amount: £100,000

Project description

This project upgrades iDEA’s digital learning platform for mobile access, including simplified sign-up, touch navigation and small-screen content, so learners without laptops can gain essential digital skills. Working with councils, libraries and community hubs, trained champions will support 5,000 priority learners, building confidence and employability to achieve 15,000 badges.

Improving Lives Plymouth

Project: Better Connected
Funding amount: £33,482

Project description

The Plymouth pilot embeds digital skills support in 6 wellbeing hubs, targeting deprived, isolated communities. Led by Improving Lives Plymouth and partners, it offers device access, workshops, and peer support. The project aims to reduce digital exclusion, improve health access, and build sustainable, community-led digital confidence.

Jangala

Project: Emergency Connectivity: Scaling Free, Portable Wi‑Fi for Digitally Excluded People in Temporary and Supported Housing
Funding amount: £133,252

Project description

This project will provide Wi-Fi access to over 450 low-income households in temporary accommodation across the Midlands with Jangala’s ‘Get Box’ technology. It aims to expand access to digital services, reduce barriers to essential services and daily life, and capture process learning for wider replication in other housing programmes.

Kent County Council

Project: Digital Skills for a Healthy Life
Funding amount: £52,719

Project description

The “Digital Skills for a Healthy Life” project will deliver workshops to 250 Kent residents at risk of digital exclusion, providing devices to those most in need. The project builds confidence and capability in digital skills, improving wellbeing, employability, and access to support – all of which strengthens public service resilience.

King’s College London

Project: I-GIVE Digital Inclusion Labs: Student-led workshops to empower Year 12 and Year 13 BTEC students with digital skills and confidence.
Funding amount: £79,095

Project description

This project will equip BTEC Year 12 and Year 13 students from marginalized communities in London with essential digital skills, confidence, and access to digital services. Through workshops led by near peers, students will learn digital literacy and online safety as well as how to navigate educational and employment platforms and access financial and wellbeing services.

Leicester City Council

Project: Let’s Get Digital
Funding amount: £36,017

Project description

The Let’s Get Digital Expansion will support 150 people, including social housing tenants, individuals with learning difficulties, poor mental health, and those in recovery. It builds digital confidence for health, housing, employment, and social inclusion, reducing service dependency and improving economic outcomes. Participants gain independence, transferable skills, and sustained benefits.

Lewes District Citizens Advice

Project: Embedding Digital Inclusion in Advice Services
Funding amount: £30,527

Project description

Building on TechResort’s proven model of community-based digital support, this project will embed digital inclusion support into a new drop-in Advice First Aid service. This will include recruiting dual-role volunteers, delivering weekly community drop-ins, access to devices and data, and specialist training. The aim is to reduce digital exclusion, increasing resilience, and creating a sustainable, replicable model for community benefit.

Libraries Connected

Project: Innovating in Trusted Spaces: Libraries Advancing the Digital Inclusion Action Plan
Funding amount: £310,463

Project description

This proposal will develop a practical guide for digital inclusion in libraries, co-created with staff and target groups including older people and the unemployed. Focusing on AI, media and digital literacy, it will test and recommend scalable interventions and establish a community of practice to enhance digital skills and confidence.

Lighthouse Futures Trust

Project: Digital Innovation to support employment
Funding amount: £96,812

Project description

Lighthouse Futures Trust will co-design and pilot 8 accessible digital-skills modules for young adults aged 18–25 with SEND. With input from 10 providers and trials in 5 settings, it aims to boosts digital confidence and employability, delivering by March 2026 a scalable national training package and train-the-trainer model.

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority

Project: Login LCR
Funding amount: £324,026

Project description

The Login LCR project aims to deliver a dual intervention: it will provide 1500 of the most excluded residents with a wrap-around offer, providing access to a digital device, connectivity and in-person training to build digital skills and confidence. A further 1000 individuals, at varying stages of their digital journey, will be engaged through 7 large-scale roadshow events. These events will bring together multi-agency support in accessible, trusted settings, offering opportunities for wider provision and referral pathways into the core training programme.

Luton Borough Council

Project: Digital Equity Project: Growing Inclusion through family and maternity services across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK)
Funding amount: £137,227

Project description

This project aims to reduce digital exclusion for low-income families accessing maternity and family services across the BLMK Integrated Care System. Participants will be provided with devices, data, and digital skills support through Family Hubs, empowering them to access health information and local resources. This will help improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities.

Manchester Metropolitan University

Project:Understanding Shift Click: Critically appraising successful digital inclusion programmes with young people from underrepresented backgrounds
Funding amount: £91,316

Project description

“Understanding Shift Click” is a participatory action research project seeking to evaluate MadLab’s highly successful, flexible digital skills programme for underrepresented young people. It will identify effective inclusion strategies, aiming to inform policy, replicate best practice regionally, and support ongoing partnership and programme sustainability in Greater Manchester.

Merton Voluntary Service Council

Project:Connected for All
Funding amount: £32,090

Project description

Merton Connected will integrate the ReciteMe accessibility tool across its website, local giving page and intranet to remove digital barriers for disabled people, older residents and neurodiverse people. The project will also provide training for up to 50 staff from local Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations. These sessions will be delivered with ReciteMe to strengthen accessibility knowledge and improve support for residents, this investment creates a lasting legacy by building sector-wide skills and embedding inclusive digital practice across Merton’s community services.

Norfolk County Council

Project: ASK Cora and ASK Taylor – Empowering Carers with Digital Inclusion (Accessible Information and Support)
Funding amount: £43,147

Project description

This project will develop an AI-driven digital assistant for unpaid and young carers, providing 24/7 tailored guidance. Through collaboration with local partners and communication in multiple languages, it will improve accessibility, reduce isolation, and empower carers through personalised information and local support in a way that is accessible.

Northumbria University

Project: Improving Older Adults’ Digital Skills Through Peer-to-Peer Networks
Funding amount: £57,353

Project description

This project will tackle digital exclusion among older adults in North East England by providing digital skills training and peer support. Using a ‘Train the Trainer’ model and citizen science, it will build digital confidence, cyber-resilience, and community engagement, aiming for scalable, sustainable impact across the UK.

Nottinghamshire County Council

Project: Digital Inclusion Spatial Equity Analysis Mapping Project
Funding amount: £91,748

Project description

The SEAM project is a data‑driven framework that maps digital exclusion in Nottinghamshire by combining geospatial analysis, community insights, and real‑world outcomes, enabling stakeholders to target interventions effectively, embed equity, and deliver scalable, future‑proof strategies that build inclusive, connected communities

Out Together

Project: Digital Neighbourhoods: Scaling Out Together’s LGBTQ+ Hub Model
Funding amount: £63,200

Project description

Out Together, with Patient.info, will expand its successful Leeds-based digital inclusion hubs for older LGBTQ+ people across West Yorkshire. This project will facilitate 5 new hubs in the area and support over 250 people through digital skills training, access to devices, peer-to-peer support. The programme will cover digital skills such as email, online safety, access to health services, banking and emerging tech such as AI. A national digital health hub and volunteer network will ensure sustainable, far-reaching impact and reduced isolation.

Pro-active Community

Project: ‘AI.Can’ – Building skills in existing AI tools to make everyday digital tasks easier for people with learning disabilities and autism (LD/A).
Funding amount: £75,123

Project description

‘AI.Can’ is an innovative peer-led pilot designed to find ‘what works’ when building skills to use existing AI tools that make life easier for people with learning disabilities and autism (LD/A). Through co-produced research, intervention testing, and accessible resources, AI. Can will be designed and tested by people with lived experience of LD/A, which will produce a highly-tailored intervention deliverable in local communities across England.

Royal Borough of Greenwich

Project: A neighbourhood approach to digital inclusion of older people: Trialling Behavioural Systems Mapping (BSM) in 5 communities
Funding amount: £138,106

Project description

This project will trial Behavioural Systems Mapping in 5 areas to co-design targeted strategies to improve digital inclusion for older people. It will develop local capacity, provide practical blueprints, and produce a national toolkit. This will generate transferable evidence on effective interventions and advancing sustainable, context-specific digital inclusion.

Sheffield United Community Foundation

Project: Safe to Play
Funding amount: £303,087

Project description

Safe to Play will use the power of esports and Football Club charities across ten EFL Club’s communities to help young people build confidence, digital skills and safer online habits. By combining engaging activities with the Duty of Care framework developed by British Esports, this project will give disadvantaged young people access to new opportunities, trusted support and a safer way to take part in online communities.

SignHealth

Project: Deaf Digital Health Roadshow
Funding amount: £58,066

Project description

SignHealth will support deaf BSL users across England with digital health roadshows. The project aims to build confidence and skills to access health services online, with outcomes including increased NHS App usage, improved confidence, and stronger community connections. The initiative addresses digital exclusion and enhances health access.

Signpost Colchester Limited

Project: Build and Connect (Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund)
Funding amount: £45,185

Project description

Build & Connect will support digital inclusion at Basildon, Greenstead and Jaywick centres, providing devices, data and training. This project will offer participants tailored tech support, employability workshops, and peer support, aiming to increase digital confidence, employment, and lasting community inclusion.

St John and Red Cross Defence Medical Welfare Service

Project: Accessing Digital Welfare
Funding amount: £183,183

Project description

This project will deliver a digital inclusion programme targeted at supporting the armed forces community including their families and carers who face unique barriers to digital inclusion. By providing digital health literacy tools like a new tailored app, as well as digital support and training, this community will be empowered to engage more effectively and confidently with a range of digital services.

The Bromley by Bow Centre

Project: Connected Lives: Skills, access and confidence for everyday life
Funding amount: £105,350

Project description

Connected Lives will test whether embedding digital inclusion directly into a place-based, health-linked community model achieves more sustainable outcomes than traditional stand-alone interventions. The novel integration of digital inclusion across services will include embedding digital support into the Bromley by Bow Centre’s Welcome Hub; linking people directly with Bromley by Bow Health’s GP surgeries and combining digital skills with practical life outcomes like managing benefits and paying bills.

The Engineering Development Trust

Project: IC Nexus: Digital Skills for Work
Funding amount: £67,136

Project description

This project will pilot a free online platform delivering flexible digital skills training to 100 young people aged 16–21 in the West Midlands and North East. It will combine modules, mentoring, and community-building to improve employability, accessibility, and digital inclusion, with plans for national expansion and adaptation for younger learners.

The Grace Eyre Foundation

Project: Digital Skills for Life
Funding amount: £28,815

Project description

Grace Eyre Foundation will deliver tailored digital skills training for adults with a learning disability and/or autistic adults in Sussex. The project uses co-produced courses, peer Digital Champions, and accessible workshops to build confidence, independence, and access to services, aiming to reduce digital exclusion and create lasting, positive impact.

The Oldham Council

Project: Oldham Digital Futures: Scaling Skills, Access, and Opportunity
Funding amount: £266,084

Project description

The Get Oldham Working ‘GOW Digital’ programme will widen digital access across Oldham through 2 Digital Inclusion Hubs and a Mobile Digital Hub. Residents will receive support through digital workshops, trained Digital Champions, and the distribution of over 300 devices. The project will help people build confidence, access online services, improve job prospects, and create a sustainable, community-led model for digital inclusion.

The Trust for Developing Communities

Project: Digitally Connected Communities
Funding amount: £79,885

Project description

“Digitally Connected Communities” takes a place-based approach to tackling digital inequality in Brighton & Hove by establishing digital hubs, action learning groups and community outreach in priority neighbourhoods. Partnering with community-led organisations and academics, it builds digital skills, generates new evidence and creates a replicable model for sustainable digital inclusion.

University of Bristol

Project: Future IDEAS
Funding amount: £81,030

Project description

Future IDEAS will co-design a chatbot with communities to increase digital confidence, reduce anxiety, and facilitate participation. Through creative workshops, prototyping, and community-based delivery, the project will provide inclusive, evidence-based digital support and an adaptable toolkit, strengthening local pathways and supporting broader digital inclusion ambitions.

University of Durham

Project: Trusted connections: Where digital skills meet community
Funding amount: £234,854

Project description

This proposal aims to reduce digital exclusion across Northeast England by providing community digital hubs, online skills platforms, mentorship, and co-designed learning for unemployed adults, NEET youth, and over-55s. This will foster improved digital safety, skills, confidence, and inclusion through collaborative, sustainable, volunteer-led support.

University of Sussex (EmpowerNet)

Project: EmpowerNet – scaling client-led model of digital inclusion for homeless and housing-insecure communities
Funding amount: £87,623

Project description

EmpowerNet will support at least 200 adults experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in West Sussex by providing devices, connectivity, and tailored training. Participants will benefit from tailored digital skills and services support offered through one-to-one and group sessions within trusted local hubs.

University of Sussex (Live Digital Inclusion Lab)

Project: Live Digital Inclusion Lab – making exclusion visible, actionable and preventable
Funding amount: £86,068

Project description

The University of Sussex will launch the Live Digital Inclusion Lab, the UK’s first transparent digital inclusion rating for public-facing online services. Researchers will run live stress-tests of essential, public-facing services in both face-to-face and remote settings with real users. Through tools like public scoreboards and rating systems, it will reveal the barriers people face when completing everyday tasks, such as booking a GP appointment or applying for Universal Credit.

Vision Norfolk

Project: Digital Technology for People with Vision Impairment in Norfolk
Funding amount: £98,842

Project description

Vision Norfolk will support a minimum of 220 people with vision impairment in Norfolk through volunteer-led digital training. Through trained volunteers and one-to-one mentoring, this project will improve people’s digital skills and confidence to use digital services. It will also strengthen local partnerships and reduce reliance on statutory services, providing a tested and scalable model for digital inclusion.

Wesley Hall Community Centre

Project: Wesley Hall Digital Pathway to Empowerment
Funding amount: £90,625

Project description

The Digital Pathways to Empowerment programme will support older adults and disadvantaged working-age adults by building digital skills, confidence and English proficiency. Through tailored digital training focused on issues relating to health and employment, the programme aims to enhance access to services, reduce isolation and build key digital skills.

West Midlands Combined Authority

Project: WM:Connect, Delivering 2 initiatives – The Hub and WM: Together
Funding amount: £ 399,837

Project description

WMTogether will tackle digital exclusion in the West Midlands through The Hub, an AI-powered platform making local initiatives visible and accessible, backed by secure device recycling and targeted training. The pilot of 1,500 residents, guided by Digital Champions, will test solutions, identify gaps and create a scalable blueprint for inclusion

Wigan Council

Project: Digital Wigan – Access for All programme
Funding amount: £38,438

Project description

Wigan Council aims to provide digitally excluded residents with refurbished devices, connectivity, and skills support. Working through the Digital Communities Partnership network, vulnerable groups will receive refurbished devices, connectivity and digital skills support all in one package. This will boost access and confidence to engage with digital society.

Wildscreen

Project: Nature Story: Digital Inclusion via Natural World Storytelling
Funding amount: £32,019

Project description

The Nature Story project will empower 300 young people, especially people not in education or training, to develop digital storytelling skills through structured online challenges. The initiative provides access to digital tools, professional editing software, and community support, aiming to boost confidence and digital creative abilities, while generating evidence on effective digital engagement.

Women’s Aid Federation of England

Project: Bridge: The digital literacy platform for young people engaged with domestic abuse services
Funding amount: £189,632

Project description

Bridge is a digital literacy platform for 10-14 year-olds affected by domestic abuse. Developed by Women’s Aid and Giant Digital, it will expand online safety through tailored, interactive content. It will also use user-led research to ensure relevance and safety, offering a scalable, evidence-based solution for vulnerable, digitally excluded young people.

Women for Refugee Women

Project: Creating Community: Increasing digital inclusion for refugee and asylum-seeking women
Funding amount: £77,068

Project description

This project will support low-income and unemployed women through the provision of essential digital assets and tailored digital skills workshops. Integrating digital modules into English classes, ensuring women are able to access healthcare portals, submit job applications, and support their children’s learning. This project embeds digital inclusion into a holistic, community led model.

Women’s Health Matters

Project: DigitALL Women
Funding amount: £28,012

Project description

DigitALL Women expands digital support to 200 women affected by domestic abuse and poverty by offering group and one-to-one sessions, equipment loans, and digital safety training. The programme will build on proven outcomes to help improve confidence, employability and wellbeing.

Women’s Wellbeing

Project: Digital Gateway in to Employment
Funding amount: £150,000

Project description

This project aims to empower women in deprived areas by providing digital employability training, resources, and employer engagement. It builds on a proven model, offering practical skills, creating partnerships, and delivering a replicable toolkit to reduce digital exclusion and unemployment, supporting economic growth and workforce participation.

Youth Federation

Project: Youth Digital Wellness Project
Funding amount: £32,897

Project description

Youth Digital Wellness will support 90 disadvantaged young people, combining safeguarding, financial resilience, and wellbeing education. The project aims to increase digital inclusion and equip participants with the skills and confidence to use digital resources safely.

By Mark Jackson
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.

Latest UK ISP News: