Get Digital

The project worked directly in 195 schemes and online with a further 300 schemes via the Get Digital website. Successful applicants received a package of grants, training and support to promote, deliver and sustain digital literacy skills for their residents.

Ongoing and independent evaluation of the project informed the development of a business case and sustainable model for the integration of communal PC and internet services into the service provision in sheltered housing.

NIACE and Digital Unite worked together to offer:

• Grants to schemes to set up, support and sustain communal IT facilities
• Free, pre-training ‘resident engagement' and 'scheme set up' sessions to prepare residents, schemes and their managing landlords to participate in the programme
• A free, customised 6 week digital literacy skills training programme for older residents, and staff, in sheltered housing schemes
• Free support for schemes to set up and sustain ‘Get Digital Partnerships' with local people and organisations, such as schools, UK online centres, local authorities and voluntary and community sector groups.
• Expert guidance or schemes for landlords throughout the programme
• Free access to a wide range of online practical, learning and teaching digital engagement resources for schemes, landlords and local and community intermediaries and supporters.
• Opportunities to network and learn from other schemes and programmes.

• Registered social landlords.
• Sheltered housing schemes across England.
• Up to 7,800 digitally excluded residents of sheltered housing schemes.

To reflect the increased self-sustainability of the project as it progressed, activity was been divided into ‘waves'.

Wave 1 provided substantial intervention, with grants and support for local schemes.

Wave 2 provided less direct intervention and increased motivation for registered social landlords to support the programme from their own resources. Grants were offered at reduced levels.

Wave 3 ran in parallel with the first two waves and focused on engaging schemes to participate in the programme with no direct intervention.

Get Digital built the capacity of the registered social housing sector to offer digital access and support to residents within their offer. It achieved this through the development of:

• a sustainable business model of digital inclusion for registered social landlords
• a series of resources, including toolkits to sustain the provision of effective, sustainable digital skills programmes in sheltered housing
• models of local support for sheltered housing schemes, including intergenerational learning
• the Get Digital Learning Network website which hosted and signposted to materials that support sheltered housing providers to support older people in developing their digital skills.

Susan Easton

susan.easton@niace.org.uk

+44 (0)116 204 4200/4201