The importance of being digitally connected has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many groups, including homeless people have found themselves unable to access key services due to lack of access to devices and data. The charity Crisis will hand out 2,500 devices and data packages to homeless people across Britain in order to address this issue as well as reduce isolation and loneliness.
People experiencing homelessness are more likely to be digitally excluded, and being left behind digitally often means facing increased disadvantage.
What are the challenges in accessing digital for those experiencing homelessness? What are the possible solutions and what resources are available to support this?
These topics have been discussed in a webinar organised by Homeless Link on 28th May. You can watch the recording or listen to the podcast here.
In a blog post from Get Digital Scotland Irene Mackintosh, researcher and training facilitator with One Digital UK, describes the action research that was developed in Scotland in 2019 to understand the digital needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Get Digital is a digital inclusion programme hosted and managed by Simon Community Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government for 3 years (2018-2021) that supports people affected by or working in homelessness to experience an improved quality of life by benefiting from the digital world.
Read the full blog post here: https://www.getdigitalscotland.org/news/making-real-world-change-making-digital-easy/
