One Digital

Digital technology increasingly shapes how people communicate, work, access services and spend spare time. More than 12 million adults in England, and one in five adults in Scotland, lack the digital skills they need. Two-thirds of people aged over 75 and three in ten aged 65-74 don't use the internet, risking exclusion from public services and community life.

One Digital, a Big Lottery-funded partnership between Age UK, Digital Unite, SCVO, Clarion Futures and Citizens Online, aimed to support older people in areas of high digital exclusion to get online or develop basic digital skills, via a network of trusted intermediaries and Digital Champions.

The partnership recruited and supported specialist Digital Champions focused on older people's needs. Working with Age UK Leicestershire & Rutland and Age UK Oxfordshire, it engaged 95 intermediary organisations and recruited and trained 160 Digital Champions.

Through Phase One (2016/17), the partnership helped more than 11,000 people across the UK get online, with 80% of those supported reporting increased confidence in digital skills, a better understanding of the benefits of being online, and increased motivation to learn. Locally, the programme reached 3,858 older people to promote the benefits of digital technology and supported 1,274 older people to learn new digital skills.