Embargoed until 00:01 Thursday 4 August 2022
Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub’s Tech Fund helps charities provide tablets and data to people in need • Hubbub and Virgin Media O2 announce the grant winners of the ‘Tech Lending Community Fund’ • Fund set up to tackle digital isolation and e-waste Environmental charity Hubbub and Virgin Media O2 are announcing the five charities which have received a share of £400,000 to run a pioneering device lending scheme to provide tablets and data to people who need them. Grants between £55,000 and £83,000 have been made to five organisations across the UK who provide crucial support to groups such as women seeking refuge from domestic violence, refugees, asylum seekers and people at risk of homelessness. The five charities are Thames Reach; Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation; Willowacre Trust; Refuge; and Leeds Refugee Forum. Between them they will provide more than 1,000 tablets to people living in temporary accommodation and who are digitally excluded. The tablets will be powered by free O2 mobile data provided by the National Databank, set up by Virgin Media O2 and digital inclusion charity, Good Things Foundation. The tablets and data will help people to improve their digital skills, and to access essential services such as healthcare appointments, mental health support, training courses, and to apply for jobs and to take part in virtual interviews. The grant fund is also supported by Amazon which is providing an additional £100,000 to support the running costs of the lending hubs. The Tech Lending Scheme also supports the circular economy by rehoming tablets with people who need them, giving them a second life so they can be lent again and again, and prevents them from ending up in landfill as e-waste.
The initiative forms part of Virgin Media O2’s Better Connections Plan – the company’s new sustainability strategy to create a better, more connected and greener world for everyone. The Tech Lending Community Fund is one of the ways Virgin Media O2 will reach its goal to connect one million digitally excluded people through free and affordable connectivity and services by 2025. The winners are: •
Homelessness charity Thames Reach, which provides emergency hostels, day services, supported housing and employment, training and education schemes across London. The funding will help Thames Reach to provide 300 tablets and builds on their existing digital literacy skills programme.
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Islington-based Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation (KMEWO), which supports women and girls from black and minoritised communities who are survivors of domestic abuse. The charity also provides general advice, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) advocacy, counselling, digital support, functional and employability skills training. KMEWO will provide more than 100 tablets to help women access online support services such as welfare benefits, housing, health, education, and training services.
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Scotland-based Willowacre, which works to reduce homelessness across the west of Scotland and provides a range of services including digital support, money advice, youth services, and furniture/white goods upcycling. The organisation will provide 250 tablets to help those who are at risk of homelessness to have the skills, technology and support to get online.
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Refuge, the nationwide charity supporting women and children seeking refuge from domestic abuse, including refugees and asylum seekers, and those at risk of homelessness. The charity established a Tech Abuse and Empowerment programme in 2017 to increase safety, confidence, and digital knowledge amongst those they support. Refuge will provide 250 tablets to help women and children to access online services, education, training and entertainment.
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Leeds-based charity Leeds Refugee Forum which supports refugees by providing training and resources to help them develop new skills and integrate into the local community. Thanks to the grant, the charity can provide 200 tablets to refugees across the city, building on their existing tech hub and digital literacy offering.
Alex Robinson, CEO of Hubbub, said: “We are delighted to announce the recipients of the Tech Lending Community Fund. This unique community lending scheme has two key benefits: it allows people at their most vulnerable to access essential services and stay in touch with loved ones, and it also tackles e-waste by giving another life to unwanted tablets and diverting them from ending up in landfill or incineration.” “We look forward to supporting these wonderful charities with resources and guidance as they roll out their programmes, as well as witnessing the impact the tablets will have on the beneficiaries.”
Nicola Green from Virgin Media O2, said: “For people living in temporary accommodation and at risk of digital exclusion, having access to devices and data can be a lifeline.” “That’s why we’re proud to support these five worthy winners of the Tech Lending Community Fund to help them support vulnerable people so they can get online and access the services they need.” “This is just one of the ways Virgin Media O2 is working to connect one million digitally excluded people through free and affordable connectivity and services by 2025, as part of our new Better Connections Plan to help people to lead better, more connected, and greener lives.” The Tech Lending Community Fund builds on Hubbub and Virgin Media O2’s Community Calling programme which launched in 2020 and has redistributed more than 10,000 donated smartphones and data to people who need them.
For more information about the fund and winners, visit www.techlendingcommunityfund.co.uk
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For more information please contact, Habiba Paracha habiba.paracha@barleycommunications.co.uk 07837 702917 Rachel Ilett rachel.ilett@barleycommunications.co.uk 07955 386 326
NOTES TO EDITORS
QUOTES FROM THE WINNERS Alessy Beaver, Essential Skills Coordinator, Thames Reach, said: “Thames Reach is delighted to have been selected as a provider for the Tech Lending Community Fund. Access to digital devices and infrastructure can be a lifeline for those recovering from homelessness, but demand for this sort of provision is increasing. Becoming a Tech Lending Hub will allow Thames Reach to provide free devices and data to some of the most vulnerable and at-risk communities in London, including those living in temporary and emergency accommodation.” “Being affected by homelessness means so much more than losing your home; the social isolation that can occur means that preventing digital exclusion is essential. This scheme will help to combat social isolation in these settings by increasing residents’ connectivity to family and friends, as well as local support services and education providers. Additionally, with support from staff on site, residents will be assisted to develop the necessary skills to access vital online services, such as banking, health appointments, and Universal Credit, taking vital steps towards living independently. From our previous work with Hubbub on the Community Calling scheme - a digital inclusion initiative which distributed refurbished smartphones - we saw significant improvements in health, housing, and employment outcomes for the people we support, and we look forward to achieving even greater results through the Tech Lending Hub.”
Gona Saed, Sustainability and Development Manager, Kurdish and Middle Eastern Women’s Organisation, said: “Lack of digital devices and data during the pandemic have deepened the inequalities that our service users faced due to the inability to access the support services that helped them with their safety and wellbeing. The Tech Lending Hub will support women to keep up with the structural changes in the way services are delivered; including education, health, welfare benefit systems, housing, and local authority services, many of which have transferred to digital platforms.” “The availability of digital devices through this project will enable women to access a wide range of services online from refuges and temporary accommodation to counselling, workshops, income maximisation tools, health services and accessing opportunities in their journey to recover.”
Brian Gannon, Chief Executive Officer, West of Scotland Housing Association (WSHA), said: “It is a fantastic achievement for our charitable subsidiary, Willowacre Trust, to have been chosen as the only Scottish Hub as part of the Tech Lending Community. The funding will enable us to develop our existing digital services and work with partners to be a Lending Hub for those that are facing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. The access to
good quality devices and data will support those individuals and improve their digital inclusion.”
Simon Freeburn, Digital Participation Officer, Willowacre Trust, added: “Access to a device and data are two of the main barriers to digital inclusion. This funding will give us the opportunity to engage with those that are at risk of homelessness to ensure they have the skills, technology and support to do what they need to online.”
Abigail Ampofo, Director of Service Delivery, Refuge, said: “Refuge is extremely grateful for this funding. It comes at an important time as a growing number of survivors are experiencing abuse perpetrated via technology.” “The experiences of tech abuse can range from harassment via text messages, to location tracking and spying via stalker ware.” “By becoming a Tech Lending Community Hub, Refuge will be able to continue to ensure women and children entering our specialist domestic abuse services are not forced offline (which can exacerbate feelings of isolation and exclusion) and are empowered to use tech safely and confidently.” “The Tech Lending Community Hub grant will equip survivors with safe, high-quality tablet devices to secure access to the digital world and utilise online resources such as education materials and entertainment for their children. We hope that this will improve the wellbeing of families in our refuges.”
Ali Mahgoub, Director, Leeds Refugee Forum, said: “Becoming a Tech Lending Community Hub will enable us to help support many more refugees access vital online services and improve opportunities, social equality and language skills. Digital technology is now very much at the heart of how our members’, public, economic and social life functions. These devices will help our users integrate into society; access the benefits online; take part in remote education; shop online and improve their communication skills with the centre, families, schools and the community. Being able to access both social media to keep in contact with family, and entertainment is also key to helping tackle social isolation and mental health.”
ABOUT HUBBUB Hubbub is an award-winning charity and social enterprise that inspires ways of living that are good for the environment - disrupting the status quo to raise awareness, nudge behaviours and shape systems. Their aim is to revolutionise communications with the public about environmental issues - using everyday language and good design to make environmental actions desirable and tapping into things people are passionate about such as food, fashion, homes and neighbourhoods. This innovative approach saw Hubbub win the Charity of the Year Award in 2020 and Best Social Media Presence in 2021 at the prestigious Charity Times Awards. Since its formation in 2014, Hubbub has delivered more than 145 trailblazing environmental campaigns in collaboration with over 2,300 partners, helping to shift the national debate on key environmental issues such as food waste, sustainable fashion, air pollution and recycling. Hubbub’s campaigns include #LeedsByExample which brought together 25 of the UK’s largest companies to boost recycling on the high street, a 3-year partnership with IKEA to create the world’s largest consumer-facing sustainability campaign ‘Live Lagom’ and creating a network of 280 (and counting) Community Fridges across the UK which, in 2021, redistributed an estimated 3,150 tonnes of surplus food and welcomed over 250,000 unique visitors. www.hubbub.org.uk Twitter: @hubbubuk Facebook: @HubbubUK Instagram: @helloHubbub LinkedIn: Hubbub-UK
ABOUT VIRGN MEDIA O2 Virgin Media O2 launched on 1 June 2021, combining the UK’s largest and most reliable mobile network with a broadband network offering the fastest widely-available broadband speeds. It is a customer-first organisation that brings a range of connectivity services together in one place with a clear mission: to upgrade the nation. Virgin Media O2 is the corporate brand of the 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica SA, and one of the UK’s largest businesses. The company has 47 million UK connections across broadband, mobile, TV and home phone. Its own fixed network currently passes 15.7 million premises alongside a mobile network that covers 99% of the nation’s population with 4G, and more than 400 towns and cities with 5G services targeting 50% population coverage in 2023. Virgin Media O2 completed its roll out of gigabit broadband speeds across its entire network footprint in 2021 and plans to upgrade its fixed network to full fibre to the premises with completion in 2028. In January 2022, it also announced that it would be the
only major mobile network that isn’t bringing back roaming charges in Europe. Virgin Media O2 is a major investor in the UK. It employs around 17,500 people, has more than 400 retail stores and has committed to invest at least £10 billion over the next five years. Integration work is progresses at pace, with Virgin Media and O2 launching a joint product - Volt - less than 5 months from coming together. Today, the business delivers award-winning broadband and WiFi connectivity to homes as well as providing a connected entertainment service. This brings together live TV, thousands of hours of on-demand programming and a wide-selection of apps to customers through a set-top box and on-the-go through tablets and smartphones. It also provides 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile services, and is the network of choice for mobile virtual network operators giffgaff, Sky Mobile and Lycamobile, as well as managing a 50:50 joint venture with Tesco for Tesco Mobile. Virgin Media O2 Business plays a leading role in supporting the public sector and businesses of all sizes. This includes a variety of managed connectivity services and flexible working capabilities, security, data insight, 5G private networks and cloud solutions, as well as wholesale services to other operators and partners. Awards for Virgin Media and O2’s telecommunications services include recognition by GWS for having the most reliable UK mobile network for three years in a row (2021, 2020, and 2019) and winning the publicly voted Uswitch awards in 2022 as both the Best Network for Roaming and Most Popular Mobile Network. Virgin Media was crowned Fastest Broadband Provider in the Choose Broadband Awards and Best Broadband Provider in the 2021 Trusted Reviews Awards and at the 2021 Mobile Industry Awards O2 claimed two wins - Network of the Year, and Best Online Retailer. Virgin Media O2 is committed to using the power of connectivity to supercharge communities across the UK, taking action to close the digital divide and helping to build an inclusive, resilient, and low carbon economy. The company has an ambition to achieve net zero across its full value chain (Scopes 1, 2 and 3) by the end of 2040. Virgin Media O2 is registered in England and Wales. Registration number: 12580944. Griffin House, 161 Hammersmith Road, London, United Kingdom, W6 8BS.