Aug 2, 2025
Our annual volunteer celebration was the perfect opportunity to recognise the incredible contributions of our team and reflect on what we’ve achieved together.
Bringing Our Community Together
Working across 4 boroughs and different programme areas can make it challenging to foster team connections, so it was wonderful to see natural partnerships forming – particularly between volunteers at Orpington Methodist Church and Age UK Croydon. What better place to celebrate than where it all began: Upper Norwood Library Hub!
Local Impact, Regional Reach
While our heart is in hyperlocal digital inclusion support, helping residents navigate their digital challenges one-on-one, it’s equally important that our volunteers understand their broader contribution to regional and national change.
The Numbers Tell Our Story
Since 2022/23, our impact has been remarkable:
- Volunteers: DOUBLED
- Individual residents supported: TRIPLED
- Session attendance: QUADRUPLED
This growth demonstrates both our ability to scale and our responsiveness to the evolving needs within digital inclusion.
Community Partnership in Action
A huge thank you to Simply Lunch for providing wonderful catering for our celebration – the same corporate partner who recently supported our Office Upgrade to Windows 11. As they say, ‘a full belly makes a happy heart!’.
Here’s to our volunteers who make hyperlocal change possible every day.
Jul 27, 2025
Last week we ran the second of our Digital Horizons events in Bromley. Following on from our successful event in Orpington earlier in the year we wanted to bring it to Anerley Town Hall – the home of our first Bromley based digital drop-in and community learning programme.
This time we partnered with Penge PCN as a means to connect local GP practices directly to NHS App and other health App support we are now providing every Monday as a joint initiative.
Digital Horizons offers a range of information sessions and talks about the internet and accessing services as well as providing a community marketplace to find out about other local initiatives and well as primary care and wellbeing support in Bromley.
Over 60 residents turned out in hot weather
We provided an overview of the NHS App but importantly allowed a platform for people to discuss concerns and experiences. We had fabulous talks from Beth at Barclays about staying safe online, Beverley from Bromley Trading Standards about spotting scams, whilst Time from Clarion Futures guided us through the things to watch out for whilst shopping online and even through in a few prizes to boot.
The marketplace was jammed packed with representatives from MET Cyber Protect Team, The Cyber Helpline, Clarion, Barclays, SELCE, Community Links Bromley, Bromley Well, Citizens Advice Bromley, Bromley Well, Bromley Mencap, Bromley XbyX, SEL Mind, Upper Norwood Library Hub & Healthwatch Bromley.
Thanks to the Good Things Foundation we were able to donate a ChromeBook and Smart phone to two lucy residents.
I just wanted to extend a huge thanks to all who supported the event, helped on the day and of course to Crystal Palace Community Trust for always being there for us.
Our next Digital Horizons event will return to Orpington Methodist Church on 20th October as a part of Get Online Week and Cyber Awareness Month
Jul 27, 2025
We were invited to the recent Get Online London Meet Up hosted by the Good Things Foundation to discuss our approach to Digital Champion and training.
We focused on our three keys areas that include:
Supporting Peer Volunteers:
The notion that those needing digital support will often respond better to someone who knows a little bit more and has lived their experience. ‘Experts’ can also be intimidating and tend to ‘take over’. A peer volunteer is on their own digital inclusion journey and supporting others with challenges they have just overcome is hugely empowering and develops troubleshooting skills.
Building work placed skills and community resilience:
Supporting others hones keys skills around active listening, giving clear instructions and translating new concepts. These are exactly the type of skills required in thr working place and cannot always be taught – you need space to practice this!
Creating opportunities for Digital Ambassadors
We’ve aways thought that digital support could be enhanced though intergenerational work and but providing work experience and placement opportunities we have finally found a format where there is genuine exchange of experience between generations that can also lead to unexpected positive outcomes
We grown from 3 to 32 volunteers in the last 4 years and have reached and similar amount through our volunteer training whilst supporting other organizations.
This is just the beginning!
Jun 14, 2025
With summer coming up, we have crafted two different events to help you connect with the community and be safer online.
On Wednesday 16th July at 11am, we will running our next Digital Horizons event at Anerley Town Hall. This follows our successful event in Orpington earlier in the year.
We will have a range of speakers talking about being online, scams, managing our health online and a few other activities.
We will also have a range of community stalls with information about other services and groups to connect with in the local community.
There will be a chance to win a Chromebook and a Smart Phone. This is being delivered in partnership with Penge PCN, Crystal Palace Community Trust, Clarion Housing and Good Things Foundation.
You can turn up on the day or pre-book a ticket here (which will help us manage refreshments and be eligible for the prize draw
Next, we announce the inaugural Croydon Cyber Crime Awareness Day which will take place on the evening of the 22nd July at the Braithwaite Halls in central Croydon.
This is in partnership with Croydon Neighbourhood Watch who work tirelessly across the Borough to raise awareness an keep local people safer from crime.
Join us for a range of speakers from CrimeStoppers, MET CyberCrime unit, Neighbourhood Watch and more.
It will be an evening of information about what we can do to recognize online crime and support ourselves as well as our loved ones and neighbours. There will also be opportunities for you to get involved and access training.
Booking is essential for this and is set to be a fantastic evening.
See you there
May 10, 2025
We’ve always felt deeply connected to our local community, and our work with the Upper Norwood Library Hub has been a cornerstone of that connection right from the start. As a local employer, we see ourselves as an integral part of the vibrant “business community” here. So, when the Library Hub invited us to participate in their Creative Communities project – an initiative designed to encourage local residents to express their thoughts and feelings about their community through art – we were immediately intrigued.
Initially, we pondered our approach. We aren’t a traditional community group, but we firmly believe in our role as connectors, providing access to the vital services and support that people need. It was from this perspective that we landed on the powerful concept of “Equity in Digital Inclusion.”
Over three engaging sessions, facilitated brilliantly by Tony Cealy and the talented @asmaeatsart, participants delved into some crucial questions about what it truly means to be digitally included in 2025:
- What does digital inclusion look like in today’s world?
- How does it impact you and our wider community?
- What does it really mean to be ‘connected’ in this digital age?
- How do you envision technology influencing the world around us?
The results of these explorations were nothing short of amazing. The artistic expressions that emerged were thought-provoking and deeply insightful. The subjects tackled ranged from the pervasive influence of Artificial Intelligence in our lives to the often-felt isolation between different generations navigating technology. Participants eloquently explored where “we” fit within this rapidly evolving digital landscape.
This collaboration with the Upper Norwood Library Hub has not only been a fantastic opportunity to engage with our community in a new and creative way, but it has also reinforced the critical importance of addressing digital equity. It’s a conversation that needs to continue, and we’re proud to have played a part in sparking these vital reflections.
