Lumina Helps BT Bring UK Communities Online
What have you used the internet for this week? Have you used online banking, ordered shopping, searched for information, contacted friends? What difference would it have made to your week if you hadn’t had access to the internet? It’s hard to imagine.
For 8.7 million adults in the UK, life without access to the internet is a reality. Four million of those people are from the most disadvantaged sectors of our communities [1]. These people do not have access to the window of opportunities the internet and technology offers, opportunities that so many of us take for granted on a daily basis.
Lumina became aware of the life changing impact access to the internet can have as a result of the heart warming stories we hear from BT Community Connections award winners. Lumina provides project management and grants scheme management services for one of BT’s most successful community engagement programmes. The award scheme gives away a subscription of one year’s free broadband to community groups and charities.
This year BT awarded broadband to 270 community groups and charities, in recognition of their work to help disadvantaged members of society to get online. Groups that have benefitted from the award scheme include silver surfers, cultural groups, community centres, youth clubs and scouts. For many, the award will give them the opportunity to surf the internet and engage with the online world for the first time.
BT Community Connections award scheme is part of BT’s Get It Together programme, which is all about instilling confidence and empowering people to get online. Simon Paul, BT Community Investment Manager said “The fact that that there is nearly nine million people in the UK who do not have access the internet is a shocking statistic. BT is committed to reducing this number. We are enthused by the impact BT Community Connections has had already, but there is still more to be done and BT plans to lead the way in digital inclusion.”
One winning group this round was Games4All, a youth and community group in Birmingham. The group runs a range of activities including IT courses, student tutoring, personal development and leadership classes and sports clubs for members of the local Asian community. Emran Hussain, Managing Director at Games4All, said: “Our members are aged six to 60 and all come from low income families or are unemployed. We want to give them the opportunity to change their own situation. BT’s Community Connections award has given them the key to finding a job, to communicating with family members overseas, to researching their school projects and most importantly, to be equal to their peers. It will not only improve their situations in the short term, it could change their lives forever.”
Find out more about BT Community Connections by reading our case study or visiting www.bt.com.communityconnections
Read about our trips to see past BT Communication Connections winners by clicking the links below:
