How many charities are supporting service users with digital inclusion (e.g. providing devices, skills training, data access)?
Half (52%) of charities are providing digital inclusion support to communities.
- Half of charities (52%) are supporting communities with digital inclusion.
- This includes:
- 7% where digital inclusion is a key organisational priority.
- 19% of charities integrate digital inclusion support into their services.
- A quarter of charities (26%) provide informal support for digital inclusion.
- 7% where digital inclusion is a key organisational priority.
- Large charities are providing more formal digital inclusion support, with 39% providing this as an organisational priority or in some services. This compares to 21% of small charities. In contrast, 1 in 4 small charities (28%) provides informal digital inclusion support (compared to 19% of large charities).
- Digital inclusion provision is higher in the combined region of the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber (72%), followed by the North West (63%) and London (60%).
- Digital inclusion support is much more extensive amongst charities led by and for specific marginalised groups, as well as charities working with these groups. This includes:
- 64% of charities led by and for people with specific health conditions.
- 68% of charities led by and for neurodivergent people, of which 36% provide support informally.
- 69% of charities led by and for global majority and Black communities.
- 73% of charities with a target group of asylum seekers and refugees.
- 73% of charities led by and for disabled and deaf people, of which 40% provide this support informally.
- 64% of charities led by and for people with specific health conditions.
- Charities supporting specific marginalised groups deliver a higher proportion of informal digital inclusion support, and in turn express a higher need for funding to formalise this. For example, 43% of disabled and deaf-led charities need funding for digital inclusion support, as do 36% of neurodivergent-led charities (compared to 14% overall).
- For digital inclusion charities (i.e. supporting digital inclusion to a great extent), 36% need funding for this service delivery, but more importantly 56% need funding for their own IT and equipment.
We can see elsewhere in our report that only 9% of charities provide support to communities or other organisations around AI. Given the role of charities in supporting communities with digital inclusion, it is vital that charities are confident and upskilled in how to use AI tools safely and effectively in the coming years, in order to pass this knowledge on.
