SUFFOLK CHARITIES BENEFIT FROM £50,000 FROM CITYFIBRE TO BOOST DIGITAL INCLUSION

Suffolk Community Foundation has been awarded £50,000 from CityFibre’s Community Fund¹, a programme designed to realise the benefits of a full fibre upgrade for local communities. The award will be invested into Suffolk Community Foundation’s Digital Inclusion Fund, which will go onto to be shared amongst more projects that support the community and help address digital barriers across Suffolk.

CityFibre’s Community Fund reflects the commitment to supporting Project Gigabit contracts that have been awarded by empowering communities and preparing them for a full-fibre future. In Suffolk, the award granted to Suffolk Community Foundation will contribute to supporting a range of social enterprises dedicated to enhancing digital literacy, accessibility, and skills across the area. Together, these initiatives will help residents unlock opportunities and thrive in an increasingly connected world.

Since the inception of the Digital Inclusion Fund, many organisations have already benefitted. Some examples include:

• Headway Suffolk, a registered charity that provides support to those readjusting to daily life after a brain injury. Their share of the grant will be used to support their Digital Neuro Project, which delivers bespoke digital skills courses specifically designed for individuals living with a brain injury.
• Access Community Trust (ACT), which spans across the East Anglian region as a registered charity campaigning to end homelessness. Taking a holistic approach to their work, ACT provides mental health and wellbeing assistance for vulnerable service users that find themselves more isolated from wider society, which includes helping them to reintegrate online through their new Connect and Thrive Programme.
• The Digital Learning Programme from Eyes Open CIC, providing young people with subsidised digital training from their dedicated digital hub, The Vault. The programme addresses the isolation within younger communities that comes with using technology at home by providing a space for them to develop new digital and interpersonal skills.
  So far, the Vault has worked with 28 schools in the area to support in providing over 900 placements for local young people, delivering an extensive number of sessions on tech-based topics and can continue to do so thanks to this new funding.
• River Church, whose Digital Inclusion Programme is designed to support more vulnerable communities to access the internet safely and increase their skills in navigating the web independently. The programme will provide access to Wi-Fi, laptops, printing and digital skills training to residents of Ipswich who struggle to obtain access to costly digital equipment or connectivity.

Speaking about the award, Hannah Bloom, CEO at Suffolk Community Foundation, said: “CityFibre’s contribution to the Digital Inclusion Fund has been instrumental to its ongoing success. Since April, the Fund has supported ten organisations with grants to reduce digital poverty, improve digital skills, and increase access to devices for Suffolk residents. Together, these projects will support more than 1,500 people across the county. We’re incredibly grateful for CityFibre’s commitment to this work and look forward to strengthening our partnership in the years to come.”

CityFibre has also awarded a grant to Ipswich.Love CIC as part of the Small Grants branch of its Community Fund. Ipswich.Love CIC runs a popular community information online platform with over 750 newsletter subscribers and growing. CityFibre’s funding will contribute to maintaining and expanding the platform, fostering digital inclusion, civic pride, and local engagement.

Stacey King, Senior Partnership Manager at CityFibre, added: “Supporting grassroots organisations whose work is helping to remove digital barriers and unlock new opportunities for local people, is extremely important to CityFibre. By investing in these initiatives we’re contributing to a more inclusive digital society, one where everyone, regardless of their background or circumstances, can connect, learn and thrive with confidence.

To find out more about CityFibre’s work, including Project Gigabit news, head to the CityFibre website.

Notes

1: CityFibre’s Community Fund is a grants scheme consisting of small and large grants funding streams. Awardees will exclusively reside within Project Gigabit locations (lots) as part of the Project Gigabit contract awarded for that area.

Award in Cambridgeshire: https://cambridgeshiredigitalpartnership.org.uk/2024/01/05/working-together-to-get-cambridgeshire-online-digital-inclusion-for-cambridgeshire-and-peterborough/