Help with getting online
Do you need help getting online in Essex?
Essex County Council is working with the Digital Poverty Alliance, to achieve the six missions of their National Delivery Plan 2023. We aim to end digital poverty by 2030. Find out more about digital support in Essex. You can view the full PDF below here.
If you’re digitally excluded, you lack “the ability to interact with the online world fully, when, where and how (you) need to” - Digital Poverty Alliance.
Can’t afford to get online? Visit our interactive online map for more information on where you can develop your digital skills for free. Families lose around £286 a month by not being online. Older residents lose around £1,000 a year by not being online.
The National Databank provides free data vouchers and SIM cards with up to 20GB of data to residents of low-income households, aged 18+, without internet access. Visit our online map for more information on where you can access a National Databank hub in Essex.
Social broadband tariffs are discounted deals for people receiving Universal Credit and other benefits, saving residents up to £202 a year on their broadband bills. Find out more at www.essex.gov.uk/broadband.
Learn how to get online and use the NHS app to book a GP appointment. Get help from one of our health and digital literacy champions based in your local library. Champions are available at 26
libraries across Essex. Visit the interactive map to find out more.
Don’t know how to turn on a computer and struggle with digital skills? ACL offers free face-to-face digital skills courses in centres across Essex.
Businesses helping people to get online
Are you an Essex-based business and would like to help people get online? Here's how you can help!
Donate your old tech, including laptops and monitors, to Essex County Council! We can refurbish it or break it down for parts and use the funds to provide digital support to residents.
Support your local schools, colleges, SMEs and charities by volunteering as a digital champion, to help them to digitally transform. Contact Digital Essex to find out more.
Volunteer your time as a Health and Digital Literacy Champion in libraries, helping people to access and use the NHS app for better health outcomes.