Learning Disability England is working in partnership with Good Things Foundation and AbilityNet, VODG and other disability and digital inclusion organisations and community partners, to help people with learning disabilities get online.
This Digital Lifeline project is looking for organisations operating in England that support people with learning disabilities, including self-advocacy groups, community-based organisations to apply to help deliver the project.
The project will distribute 5,000 devices with data to people with learning disabilities in England who are digitally excluded.
The funding is coming from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
This is an ’emergency’ fund from the DDCMS. That means it needs to be delivered very quickly.
Can your organisation help as a ‘delivery partner’?
Do you know at least 10 people with a learning disability who are digitally excluded?
Do you already support people with learning disabilities in your community?
Or do you have links with self-advocacy groups or day services in your community?
Can you distribute a device safely to people with learning disabilities, and support them to learn how to use it?
Can you collect information about each person you support – at the start and at the end?
And put this information onto the Good Things CaptureIT secure database?
And most importantly, are you ready to get started straight away?
What will ‘delivery partners’ get?
As well as the devices and data (with no up front costs), delivery partners will get a grant of £100 for every person they support at the end of the project.
The minimum is 10 people.
What will people with learning disabilities get?
People with learning disabilities will get a Lenovo M10 tablet device and a case for it, plus 24GB of data.
They will own the device. They will not have to give it back at the end of the project.
And they will get help and support to set the device up and use it from the ‘delivery partner’.
This will include specialist help and any additional equipment they specifically need via AbilityNet to make sure people with more specific or ‘profound and multiple’ disabilities can also take advantage of this offer.
What are the timescales?
The deadline for applications as delivery partners is 12 noon on Friday 15 March 2021.
Successful partners will be notified by the end of March.
Devices will need to be delivered to the end user (the people with learning disabilities) by 22 April 2021.
How do I find out more?
The Good Things Foundation team will be hosting a live Zoom call at 2pm on Wednesday 10 March.
Click here to book your place.
The Zoom session will provide more information about the programme and answer any questions.
The session aims to help interested organisations understand if they can support the delivery of Digital Lifeline.