The Bread and Butter Thing Tackle Digital Poverty with Salford Council
The 12th September saw End Digital Poverty Day. A day all about recognising the need to bridge the digital divide between the online world and those who are excluded from it. As part of tackling this, we teamed up with Salford City Council to host an advice and device giveaway at our St Peters Church food club in Swinton.
Digital inclusion is an integral part of today's world
Following the success of last year’s Connecting with Confidence with Lloyds Banking Group, we were keen to mark the occasion again. We invited all our Salford members to the ‘The Big Device Giveaway’ as well as advice on cyber-crime from the Police and free Digital Skills Workshops.
Many of our members simply don’t have the ability to get online, which contributes to social isolation. We know that 40% of our members don’t meet up with friends and family on a weekly basis. And a national survey found that same figure to be only 29% in the population as a whole, which just goes to show how socially isolated our communities are becoming. But the fact that 76% of our members speak by phone/by video call with friends or family every week demonstrates the importance of digital connectivity in keeping loved ones connected.
Over 270 Salford residents came out to join us on the day and the event helped to connect more than 200 households by providing them with free refurbished laptops and tablets. 73 residents also received free SIM cards giving them crucial online access. And we were able to register 23 new members to access our healthy affordable food service. All in all a great day!
Bread and Butter’s Chief Executive, Mark Game, commented: “We here for anything that promotes inclusion as we see and hear about our members experiencing some form of digital exclusion on a daily basis. From children expected to do their homework online with only a smartphone available, to pensioners with mobility issues experiencing extreme loneliness. Things that could be solved so easily if only it wasn’t so expensive. This is a brilliant initiative that we’re only too happy to champion to our members. Let’s close that gap!”
Councillor Tracy Kelly, Salford City Council’s Lead Member for Housing and Anti-Poverty, said: “Bridging the digital divide in Salford and supporting residents who are digitally excluded is vital. Having access to a digital device makes a huge difference to the lives of our residents. This work forms part of our city’s ambition to become a Digital City, an ambition which forms part of our wider vision and corporate plan for a fairer, greener, healthier and more inclusive city for all.”