The Digital Champion Programme: boosting skills and confidence

This summer, Age UK will be launching the next round of our Digital Champion Programme, which supports thousands of older people across the UK in gaining confidence in their digital skills.

15 local Age UK and Age Cymru partners will be running Digital Champion Programme sessions between June 2024 and November 2025.

Supported by our Digital Champion volunteers, participants can try out a range of different digital devices with the aim of learning more about how being online can make their lives more connected, more convenient and more efficient.

Older people and digital exclusion

In the UK, about 2.7 million people aged 65 and over aren't online. But as an increasing number of public services – from banking to making medical appointments – go digital, older people who don’t use the internet risk being shut out.

Many older people face challenges with using technology, or worry about online security. Around 69% of people aged 75 and over struggle with basic online tasks. Plus, the cost of devices and internet access can be a big hurdle, especially for people on fixed incomes.

To help overcome these barriers, the Digital Champion Programme offers four key activities through local Age UK and Age Cymru partners:

1. Digital Champion volunteers are trained and supported to provide support and guidance for using digital skills.
2. Digital awareness raising activities reach and inform older people about the benefits of getting online.
3. Digital skills sessions build confidence and competence in using technology.
4. Provision of technology and connectivity through loaned devices and internet access to those who need it.

From June 2022 to November 2023, our first group saw some hugely encouraging results. Along with our interim evaluation (and programme monitoring), we learned a lot about how best to support volunteers and older people alike.

Many older people reported feeling more confident and knowledgeable online. The Technology Loan Scheme was particularly successful, with 71% of participants finding it met their needs. We also learned that the group sessions in our digital awareness raising events offered vital opportunities for socialising, but that the events proved most effective when combined group discussions were combined with one-on-one time to address specific concerns.

Changing lifestyles

For some participants, the boost of confidence they’ve received from the programme has had a profound impact on their hobbies, activities and day-to-day lives.

William, 86, lives alone and had never used technology before he joined the Digital Champion Programme at Age UK Portsmouth. He has no family nearby other than a brother who occasionally visits. William has mobility issues, which means he’s unable to leave the house very much.

William borrowed a tablet and connectivity through the Tablet Loan Scheme, and a volunteer Digital Champion supported him to learn how to use it at his own pace, access the internet safely and explore things he was interested in.

Assisted by his Digital Champion, William quickly progressed to setting up and using his own email address, allowing him to download an app to play chess. He was soon watching YouTube videos of old football matches and wartime documentaries, fueled by his passion for his favourite topics – sport and history.

William has gone from being completely offline, to becoming a vocal champion for the possibilities offered by being online. He explained that his confidence has grown and that access to technology has “changed his lifestyle”, providing learning opportunities and endless entertainment which he used to miss out on entirely. Alongside this William is keen that other people in similar situations to him benefit from the support Age UK offers around getting online. William insists that he “could never have done this before being involved in this great project”.

Continuing confidence

Building on the programme’s progress so far, our second group will be launching in June 2024 at 15 local Age UK and Age Cymru partners, and will run until November 2025.

This means that by the end of the Digital Champion Programme, we will have recruited and trained around 480 Digital Champion volunteers, assisted around 12,000 older people to improve their digital confidence and skills, and delivered awareness-raising activities to 96,000 older people – all with the aim of helping older people across the UK to get online and make the most of the internet.