Westminster City Council announces the expansion of its Digital Skills programme in partnership with Community Fibre

October 18th, Westminster, London: Westminster City Council today announces the expansion of its partnership with Community Fibre, to provide older Londoners with the digital skills they need to get online.  

Its Digital Ambassadors scheme, which launched in February 2021, has helped to freely educate hundreds of Westminster residents with a variety of digital skills, such as navigating a smartphone to using email, to boost confidence and close the digital divides across the borough.  

The programme, which involves recruiting and training local volunteers to deliver one-on-one training to digitally excluded residents in local libraries, will now be rolled out further across the city due to its success.  

To date, digital skills workshops have been available for Westminster residents aged 65 and over, as they are ten times more likely to be digitally excluded according to Good Things Foundation. To expand the scheme further, Community Fibre, London’s largest₁ and fastest₂ 100% full fibre broadband, in partnership with Westminster City Council today announces its new initiatives:  

 

• More accessible locations - the programme will be expanded to new and accessible locations across the borough, such as leisure centres  

• New partners – Westminster City Council will deliver training and support in GP practices to provide residents with the skills they need to navigate and use the NHS app 

• Widening support – digital training will now become available to more residents, identified by the Council as those more likely to be digitally excluded, including people with disabilities or those struggling with household finances  

 

Richard, a local Westminster resident, found out about the Digital Ambassador programme whilst reading Westminster Plus, the Council’s magazine for older residents. He thought the scheme was a great opportunity to learn essential digital skills and meet new people: 

“There is a much greater need for digital skills now than when I was in the workplace. After a few months of attending the sessions, my digital skills have significantly improved. My confidence with my laptop has improved and I’ve become less frightened of pressing the wrong button and losing all of my information now. The sessions have also got me out of the house and given my days a sense of purpose at times”. 

Richard also lives with dyslexia and finds writing quite difficult. By using the programme, he has learnt to use the predictive text function on his phone so he can now write texts and emails with much more confidence.  

Local resident and Digital Ambassador Gayle is a volunteer for the scheme and works in digital services at a large bank. She added: 

“With more and more companies embracing digital, the gap between people who have and don’t have digital skills is growing. I have helped learners with varied needs – from setting up the NHS app, to setting alarms to take medication, I’ve even helped a learner navigate the dating apps! It’s great to see the digital progress residents have made.” 

Commenting on the newly announced expansion of the programme, Councillor Geoff Barraclough, Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Development said, “The City Council is committed to creating a fairer Westminster. This includes bridging the digital divide by ensuring that those residents that currently aren’t able to get online are helped to do so. Our programme is delivering tangible positive outcomes and we look forward to expanding its reach to residents of all ages.” 

Graeme Oxby, CEO of Community Fibre added, “At Community Fibre, we believe that everyone should have access to the best internet to ensure growth and greater opportunities for all. Closing the digital divide is our priority. Therefore, we are focused on accelerating our full fibre rollout to facilitate better internet for everyone supported by our Community Investments and Digital Ambassadors programme.” 

 

Find out more about the programme 

If you are a resident in Westminster and want help learning digital skills, get in touch by: 

• Calling 07811674554 
• Dropping into one of our libraries where you can ask a member of staff for more information 
• Emailing us at [email protected]
• Book a session using our online booking form 

If you are a resident in Westminster and would like to find out more about becoming a Digital Ambassador, you can register your interest by emailing [email protected]. 

Community Fibre’s mission is to deliver 100% full fibre broadband to all the London communities it serves, helping to provide residents with opportunities for education, training, employment, social inclusion, and community projects. It works closely with landlords, councils, and housing associations to deliver connectivity to those who need it most, offering the best value and highest broadband speeds in London. 

This includes wired speeds up to 3,000 Mbps (400 - 650 Mbps over WiFi when using a WiFi 6 router), which is up to 59x faster than the UK average download speed & 306x faster than the UK average upload speed₃. It also provides 100% full fibre connectivity for businesses with broadband package speeds up to 10 Gbps. More information about its packages can be found here. 

 

 

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Contact 

For any media related enquiries regarding Community Fibre Limited, please contact Joshua Speers at [email protected]  

 

Notes to editor 

₁Source: As of July 2022, Community Fibre has connected 642,823 London homes with fibre-only broadband, followed by 466,946 London homes connected with fibre-only broadband by Hyperoptic, and 252,363 by G.Network -  thinkbroadband  

₂Source: UK average download and upload speeds are 50.4 Mbps and 9.8 Mbps, respectively - Ofcom UK Home Broadband Performance, download average based on median. Published September 2021. 

₃ *UK average download and upload speeds are 50.4 Mbps and 9.8 Mbps, respectively. Source: Ofcom March 2021, average download speed based on the median average. 

 

About Community Fibre  

Community Fibre is future-proofing London communities by delivering 100% full-fibre broadband throughout the capital city. By believing in a more inclusive future where everyone has access to better broadband,  

Community Fibre offers the fastest 100% full fibre broadband in London, with up to 10,000 Mbps for businesses and up to 3,000 Mbps for consumers, at the most competitive prices on the market. Through offering more reliable and affordable 100% full fibre connections, Community Fibre empowers communities, enabling them to connect with friends and family and access crucial services online.  

Community Fibre was named the UK’s best Consumer Internet Service Provider for the second year running at the Internet Service Provider Association (ISPA) Awards 2021, in addition to being recognised as the Best Ultrafast Broadband provider and awarded the Social Impact Award. It also won the Scaling Up category at the INCA Gold Awards in 2021.  

Currently, Community Fibre operates in the following London boroughs: Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Brent, Bexley, Bromley, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Haringey, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, and Westminster.