Major digital project aims to get more Plymouth people online

One of the UK’s biggest digital inclusion projects will officially kick off in Plymouth in September and the Council wants to hear what people think.

Churches, children’s centres, social clubs, community groups, job clubs, schools, sports associations, businesses and members of the public are being asked to get involved in the Plymouth IT Together project to get thousands more Plymouth people online and open to new opportunities.

The £330,000 project is led by the Council and has been funded by city partners including BT, Plymouth Community Homes, the Plymouth Health Community and Jobcentre Plus and is being delivered through the specialist digital inclusion charity, Citizens Online.

Around 38,000 city homes are not connected to the internet and as time goes on, people risk getting left behind in terms of opportunities for education, work, access to council and health services.

Now the Council wants to hear from people from all walks of life about what direction they would like the project to take ahead of its official launch.

A project coordinator is already in post and will be working with stakeholders, key partners and community groups and all those with an interest in helping people get online.

Lena Santoro has 13 years of working in the voluntary sector in Midlands, Cornwall and Devon and her roles have included project manager, volunteer manager, adviser, advice team leader, publicity officer. She has worked for charities including Shelter, British Red Cross, Nottingham Energy Partnership, Plymouth CAB, vinspired, BTCV and Age Concern Nottingham.

She said: “There’s an enormous amount of good work going on – such as Plymouth SeniorNet – which helps older people, but we are conscious that there are huge swathes of people that never go anywhere near a computer.

“We are looking at where the gaps are and want to hear from organisations that can help us bridge those gaps. Churches, for instance, could help enormously. Congregations are often very sociable and more experienced computer users could help others who are more nervous about finding their way around the internet.”

Councillor Tudor Evans said: “This is an extremely important project for Plymouth. We want to tap into organisations which have the trust of their members, who will be able to inspire them to learn the basics, so that they can go online and start reaping the rewards this brings – whether this is through welfare benefits, job opportunities or saving money.

“We are a co-operative council – we work together to achieve change that will reap rewards for the people of Plymouth and this is a perfect example.”

Under the new welfare reforms, the government is pushing for all potential claimants of the new Universal Credit – which replaces current benefits such as Housing Benefit and Job Seeker’s Allowance – to access the fund online.

Clive Turner, Chief Executive of Plymouth Community Homes said: “This project is about giving our communities practical straight forward support so that they can help themselves. It’s about opening doors to opportunities and helping people get better access to public services as well as benefits.”

To register an interest in getting involved email Lena at lena.santoro@citizensonline.org.uk.