Digital Lifeline

Digital Lifeline was an emergency response project getting devices, data and digital skills support to digitally excluded people with learning disabilities in England. It was funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and delivered by Good Things Foundation with 150 partners across England.

Good Things Foundation worked in partnership with AbilityNet and Digital Unite and was supported by Learning Disability England, the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group and other disability and digital inclusion organisations.

Digital Lifeline saw more than 150 grassroots community partners and others distribute over 5,500 devices with data, and offer both face-to-face and remote support to help recipients learn how to use their device safely and confidently.

This came at a time when recent ONS data found that three in four people (74.6 per cent) with a learning disability believe their wellbeing has been affected by the impact of coronavirus, compared with 37 per cent of non-disabled people.

 

30/09/2021 · Data poverty and devices

DCMS Digital Lifeline Fund: Evaluation Report

This Evaluation Report shares insights from the Digital Lifeline Fund programme, which reached 5,500 digitally excluded people with learning disabilities in just a few months.

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24/03/2022 · Our thoughts

Digital Lifeline for people with learning disabilities

More support is needed to extend a digital lifeline to people with learning disabilities, our Director of Evidence and Engagement, Dr. Emma Stone, writes.

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Digital Lifeline had a huge impact on the people it helped, reducing isolation and increasing opportunity.

Our project partners

DCMS logo

DCMS

AbilityNet logo

AbilityNet

Digital Unite logo

Digital Unite

LDE logo

Learning Disability England

VODG logo

Voluntary Organisations Disability Group

Let's Fix the Digital Divide together

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed and exacerbated digital exclusion across the UK. Digital inclusion is no longer a nice-to-have, but a need-to-have and people still urgently need access, digital skills and support. We appreciate donations of any size as your donation can contribute to getting more households connected and comfortable using technology.

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