News – 100% Digital Leeds

Partner Profile: New Wortley Community Centre

New Wortley Community Centre is a community-owned and community-led centre located in New Wortley, an inner-city area of West Leeds. A long-standing asset to the community, the centre opened in 1982 and is managed by New Wortley Community Association, a membership group that works to improve the area and the lives of people living in LS12. The centre provides support to residents and offers a range of services, groups and activities to empower them to lead happier and healthier lives.

As members of Leeds Community Anchor Network, New Wortley Community Association worked with Leeds Anchor Network and other partners on several Listening Exercises and focus groups to help deepen understanding of the practical and emotional challenges residents face when looking for work.

With the support of 100% Digital Leeds, the feedback from these sessions directly informed the design of a range of interlinked activities at New Wortley Community Centre, achieved through coproduction and collaboration, with digital inclusion support embedded throughout.

“Working with 100% Digital Leeds has been crucial to the success of the HOPE project at the community centre. Setting up a designated IT suite and the provision of laptops and tablets has enabled us to provide drop-in and one-to-one support for those who need it most.”

Centre Manager, New Wortley Community Centre

Community Listening Exercises

Through their role in Leeds Community Anchor Network on behalf of Armley Community Anchor Network, New Wortley Community Association were involved in feeding into Voluntary Action Leeds’s Good Jobs, Better Health, Fairer Futures report, along with fellow community anchors Give a Gift and LS14 Trust (on behalf of We Are Seacroft).

This feedback on barriers to employment and development opportunities was gathered in 2023 via Listening Exercises involving local people. One of the main barriers was the lack of digital access, skills, and confidence that residents faced.

“In one group, it was stated that 50% of people in the room do not have access to the internet either due to cost or not understanding how to use it, representing multiple barriers that caused digital exclusion for communities. Digital exclusion is a significant barrier to securing good jobs and requires support for community members to gain confidence in navigating the internet and resources in order to regularly access wifi and technology in general.”

Good Jobs, Better Health, Fairer Futures report, June 2023

100% Digital Leeds became involved with Leeds Community Anchor Network after the initial report, meeting with partners to discuss findings in more depth. One of these partners was New Wortley Community Centre, and a further focus group, attended by 100% Digital Leeds and Leeds City Council’s Employment and Skills team, was held in August 2024 to unpick the report’s findings and to better understand how to overcome the barriers faced by many community members.

The contributions from people emphasised the systemic disadvantages that cause so much digital exclusion. In addition, the Listening Exercise highlighted a significant barrier to employment for culturally diverse communities in New Wortley. Whilst many individuals could speak English conversationally, they lacked the literacy, numeracy, and digital skills needed to complete job applications and succeed in recruitment processes.

“Diverse communities can speak English very well but can’t necessarily write it or read it as well. So when it comes to applying for a job they don’t really know where to start. They don’t necessarily have the digital tools… but even if you give them the digital tools, they don’t know how to use them.”

New Wortley Community Association

Leeds Ambitions include thriving, strong communities that are more resilient and cohesive. Several partners described the Listening Exercises project as a catalyst for closer collaboration and more joined-up service delivery.

“Working together with 100% Digital Leeds and New Wortley Community Centre has fostered a collaborative environment and helped deliver wraparound support that is improving outcomes for the community in an enhanced way.”

Employment & Skills Advisor, Leeds City Council

Digital inclusion support at New Wortley Community Centre

IT suite

With UK Shared Prosperity Funding secured through the 100% Digital Leeds programme, New Wortley Community Association refurbished its IT suite and acquired laptops and tablets. This aligned well with their goal of improving digital access for residents.

Conversation Club

Initiated by New Wortley Community Association as a direct response to the Listening Exercise and focus group, the Conversation Club provides a safe, women-only space for people to practise English. It has since grown to include two levels, Beginner and Intermediate, and is now a valued, long-running part of New Wortley Community Association’s weekly programme.

Progression support

New Wortley Community Association adapted an existing role into a diverse Communities Support Worker post, enabling one-to-one support with job searches, CV writing, training opportunities and volunteering. This flexible model ensures that people are supported at their own pace.

Weekly jobs advice drop-in

Leeds City Council’s Employment and Skills team now delivers a regular Monday drop-in session, having scaled up from a previously underused monthly service. This increase in provision followed the success of early engagement and recognition of local demand.

HOPE (Helping with Opportunities to Prepare for Employment)

New Wortley Community Centre partnered with 100% Digital Leeds and Employment and Skills to design a support offer to be delivered directly within the community. The collaboration brought together digital inclusion expertise, employment guidance, and trusted community spaces to create accessible pathways to opportunity.

The partnership established dedicated weekly sessions at the community centre, offering:

Free digital skills training covering everything from basic computer literacy to job application support.
One-to-one employment support including CV writing, interview preparation, and career guidance.
Device access and connectivity for residents without technology at home.

By locating services within the familiar, trusted community centre environment, the programme eliminated traditional barriers such as travel costs, childcare challenges, and the confidence required to access formal training settings.

“35 residents engaged with the programme, with nine of them securing employment or progressing into further training. One participant, previously long-term unemployed, gained essential digital skills and, with support from an Employment and Skills advisor, secured a position as a Customer Service Assistant with Leeds City Council.

The partnership demonstrates how collaborative, place-based approaches can deliver meaningful outcomes in priority neighbourhoods. Residents now access support that would otherwise remain out of reach, building skills and confidence essential for modern employment markets.

This model proves that investing in community-led digital and employment support creates lasting impact, empowering individuals while strengthening neighbourhood resilience.”

Employment and Skills Advisor, Leeds City Council

Understanding community need, in partnership with Leeds Anchor Network

The overarching aim of the Leeds Community Anchor Network is to ‘help ensure the communities of Leeds thrive’. Under that is a commitment to ‘enable people to get involved in local activity and have a say about local issues and services’. Gaining knowledge of local people’s experiences and insights helps to shape the agenda for community organisations and informs local decision making. This includes how organisations approach digital inclusion based on an understanding of common barriers.

“The Listening Exercise brought insight from people in some of the city’s priority wards who want to move into employment, or better-quality work.

The overall message was that many people want to move into good quality and meaningful work, but face barriers in doing so that can be beyond their control. Often this is about their personal circumstance, such as not having regular access to the internet or a computer, or speaking English as a second language.”

Project Manager, Leeds City Council

Those experiences and insights also help to provide direction to the Leeds Anchor Network, whose members have ‘ashared commitment to listeningwell to communities, so we canwork together better and delivermore for people in Leeds’.

Leeds Anchor Network brings together 14 of the city’s largest employers across local government, health, culture, education and utilities. Anchors come together to focus on areas where they can make a key difference for the people of Leeds: as employers, through their procurement, their environmental impact, their core services, and as civic partners.

New Wortley Community Centre is one of 30 organisations that have signed up as members of the Leeds Community Anchor Network, a citywide network of trusted third and faith sector organisations. The network aims to maintain the connections made during the Covid pandemic which saw many of its members mobilise quickly to provide front-line support to people and communities in their locality. Leeds Community Anchor Network works to support smaller organisations and improve citywide services that provide immediate assistance to communities while also attempting to bring about long-term systemic change.

“Leeds anchor organisations are among the largest employers in the city, and we have all made a commitment to providing quality employment for local people.

We know that around 30% of our combined workforce who live in Leeds are in the most disadvantaged areas of the city. Providing good work in these communities is a very important element of our work to deliver inclusive economic growth.

This collaboration with Leeds Community Anchor Network has brought lived insight into the barriers many individuals face in accessing the city’s employment opportunities. Our anchor partners have heard these challenges directly, and will continue to work with communities to develop initiatives to support people into good employment.”

Peter Slee, Vice Chancellor of Leeds Beckett University (Convenor for Inclusive Growth Leeds Ambition)

Next steps

Further conversations since the Listening Exercise and the launch of the HOPE IT suite have led to additional developments in service provision.

The HOPE suite has been used to enhance the weekly Conversation Club classes by adding a digital element, and the Centre has recently added ESOL-accredited classes to their programme.

“An ESOL-accredited course is something we have aspired to offer for some time as the next step towards supporting local people into employment.”

Centre Manager, New Wortley Community Centre

It has also been highlighted that there is a need for children and young people to have safe spaces within the community to develop their skills and knowledge away from the school environment. The Centre is exploring the opportunity of developing a Homework Club that would operate from the HOPE Suite after school hours.

“Conversations with young people have also highlighted that many of them do not have access to wifi outside of school and are reliant on using a mobile phone. It is not practical to use a mobile phone to do homework so we are currently exploring what further support we can offer them.”

Centre Manager, New Wortley Community Centre

For those who cannot make it into the Centre due to other commitments or health barriers, they are also hoping to start gifting data via SIM cards and investigating options around loaning devices.

Finally, due to the success of the HOPE Suite, New Wortley Community Centre is looking to share their experiences with other community anchors and partners in the city with a long-term aim of promoting best practice when setting up IT suites in community settings.

“We know from the Listening Exercises that there are many skilled people living in our neighbourhoods, particularly from diverse communities who want to gain meaningful employment. They face multiple barriers to this including access to IT equipment or wifi and the need for a safe, inclusive space to improve their English, Maths, and Digital skills.

Our programme includes weekly structured learning sessions and more informal ad-hoc drop-in support with searching online for jobs and volunteering opportunities, writing applications, and coaching for interviews. For many of the people who are accessing support their journey will take time and initially may focus on building confidence navigating the internet. For others it’s helping them get much nearer to their goal in securing employment. Whatever the need, we are here to support them.”

Centre Manager, New Wortley Community Centre

Demystifying devices for digital inclusion, in partnership with Reconome

In November 2025 100% Digital Leeds and circular IT specialists Reconome hosted the below webinar supporting digital inclusion delivery partners to build their confidence in buying the right devices for their digital inclusion project, ensuring value for money and maximum social impact.

As well as the below webinar recording, you can download ‘A Practical Guide to Demystifying Devices for Digital Inclusion’ on the Reconome website.

‘Demystifying Devices for Digital Inclusion’ webinar recording.

Reconome play a key role in supporting access to devices for digitally excluded people, directly addressing the digital divide. They are accredited tech partner for Good Things Foundation, powering the National Device Bank, and have previously partnered with Hubbub on their Community Calling programme.

In the webinar and Reconome share their extensive knowledge and experience, covering:

Smartphones, tablets, laptops, and Chromebooks – understanding the key features so you can choose the right devices for the most impact.
Making sense of device specifications – understanding key terminology and unpicking the jargon.
Balancing functionality with value for money.
Understanding minimum specifications for device safety.
Considering accessibility and connectivity.
The pros and cons of buying new equipment versus buying reconditioned.
Avoiding common pitfalls and ‘false economy’.

Migration Update in Leeds: supporting digital inclusion for migrant communities

In September 2025 Leeds City Council’s Director of Communities, Housing and Environment provided an update on migration activity in Leeds to the council’s Environment, Housing and Communities Scrutiny Board. The report provides an overview of migration-related developments in Leeds, highlighting key challenges faced by new and settled migrant communities. It outlines the collaborative efforts of Leeds City Council, statutory bodies, and third sector partners in addressing these issues, while identifying areas requiring continued support and scrutiny. Read the full report, appendices, and meeting minutes on the Leeds City Council website.

The report includes a summary of the work of 100% Digital Leeds and third sector delivery partners in supporting digital inclusion for migrants in the 12 months prior to the report being published. 100% Digital Leeds works closely with the Leeds Migration Partnership and the Migrant Access Project, to ensure migrants can access timely and trusted digital support across the city. Key activities have included support with eVisa applications, community listening exercises, and collaboration through funding streams such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund, QFutures Fund, and SIM gifting.

Scrutiny Board Members were also asked to provide comment on the draft Leeds Migration Strategy 2025 – 2030. The strategy positions digital inclusion as a key enabler of the strategy’s aims and objectives, recognising that digital inclusion is essential for social inclusion.

“As more services, opportunities, and sources of information move online, ensuring that migrants have the skills, access, and confidence to engage digitally is critical. This strategy helps reduce barriers to healthcare, education, employment, and civic participation, supporting migrants to thrive and contribute fully to a digitally connected, inclusive city.”

Draft Leeds Migration Strategy: 2025 – 2030

Supporting digital inclusion for migrant communities

For many migrant communities the barriers to digital inclusion are complex and link to wider factors beyond the common issues of lack of digital skills or access to a device. Those additional barriers include language or literacy needs, cultural considerations, poverty, disabilities, and lack of secure housing.

The 100% Digital Leeds programme works in partnership with local organisations to embed tailored digital support within trusted community services, aiming to reduce digital exclusion. Over the past year, the programme has focused on strengthening digital infrastructure, supporting groups working with refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, helping them access funding and build capacity to deliver effective digital inclusion initiatives.

eVisas

An eVisa is an electronic record of a person’s immigration status. It provides people with the ability to view and prove their immigration status online. eVisas are accessed via a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. This can then be used to share information about their immigration status and conditions, such as their right to work or rent in the UK. To apply for an eVisa, people need digital devices with access to the internet, and the digital skills and confidence to navigate the online application system.

The 100% Digital Leeds team has worked with Leeds Migration Partnership to ensure digital inclusion support is in place to help people apply for and use their eVisa. This included raising awareness through the 100% Digital Leeds newsletter, promoting training sessions from community organisations such as Leeds Refugee Forum to help staff, volunteers, and community leaders understand the new system, and prioritising smartphone gifting and SIM gifting initiatives.

“B. arrived in the UK in late 2024 and was struggling with settling in the UK and the process of applying for permanent residency. He couldn’t speak English very well, making the process harder.

He was referred to Holbeck Together and we provided access to a device and data plan which allowed him to begin his application for residency. We also showed him how to download and use apps, including the UK Immigration: ID Check app, and a translation app to make communication easier. Following this initial contact we helped him upload documents and evidence to support his resettlement process and begin an application for his eVisa. Over the course of several visits he managed to open a UK bank account, register with several agencies for work, and also contact a GP and register with health services.

He has now moved to new accommodation near Wakefield and is looking to improve his English via online and in-person learning.”

Testimonial from Holbeck Together

Supporting grassroots organisations

Over the last year, the digital inclusion team has worked with a number of grassroots organisations that have not previously worked with 100% Digital Leeds. These organisations have a deep understanding of the issues that affect and impact upon the communities they support. Many of the organisations are unregistered, constituted groups rather than registered charities. They are often run by people who belong to the community they are supporting, and who share the lived experience of those communities. Many of these organisations support migrant communities.

Anshlah

Anshlah is a constituted group with 42 members, based in SHINE in Harehills. They work to raise aspirations and provide opportunities to the women they support, and they identified digital inclusion as one of the enablers to achieving those outcomes. 100% Digital Leeds worked with Anshlah to identify a range of national and local partners who could support their developing digital inclusion offer. The digital inclusion team helped Anshlah to register with Good Things Foundation’s National Databank to gift free SIM cards to their members, introduced them to colleagues at Leeds Libraries so they could borrow iPads to use with members in the centre, signposted them to resources from Leeds Older People’s Forum’s Be Online Stay Safe project, and brought in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund-funded Digital Inclusion Officer from Voluntary Action Leeds to add extra capacity and support for Anshlah’s digital skills sessions. Anshlah are in the process of setting up a bank account for their organisation. When this is in place, the 100% Digital Leeds team will continue to work with Anshlah to look at funding opportunities where digital inclusion can be positioned as an enabler to achieving the outcomes that Anshlah want to see for their members.

AME for Roma

AME for Roma is a registered society supporting the Gypsy Roma community in Harehills. They are a grassroots organisation at the start of their digital inclusion journey. The society is run by someone who is originally from Romania and has been living in Leeds for 12 years. She created the AME for Roma group to help amplify the community’s voices. 100% Digital Leeds awarded AME for Roma a £500 grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to purchase a laptop and smartphone to support the running of the organisation. AME for Roma have joined Good Things Foundation’s National Digital Inclusion Network and National Databank to gift SIM cards to their community, and they are working with 100% Digital Leeds on a project to combat data poverty in partnership with Jangala.

Community Listening Exercises

100% Digital Leeds understands the importance of listening to communities to make sure that digital inclusion initiatives are appropriate and effective. In July and December 2024, 100% Digital Leeds was invited to two Community Listening Exercises by New Wortley Community Association and Give a Gift. Both organisations are rooted in communities with large migrant populations, and support people to integrate and prosper, working to bridge the gap between the assistance provided by statutory agencies and the actual needs of individuals and families.

Key barriers that were identified through the Listening Exercises were the lack of access and support to go online. People also emphasised the systemic disadvantages that cause so much digital exclusion.

“The internet was described as ‘scary when you don’t know how to use it’, implying that some participants would, at the very least, require support from a friend or other knowledgeable community member when accessing opportunities on the internet.

In addition, other participants described the financial barriers that contributed to digital exclusion, with cost being highlighted as a factor in not being able to use the internet. Some participants would use friends’ houses and neighbours’ wifi or use the buses or local shops like Asda, and fast-food restaurants to access on (their) own devices, meaning that they lacked a consistent, independent method of being able to use technology.

Due to these factors, it was felt that communities would benefit from ‘a person to sit with them and help to understand how to access the internet’. This could ideally be a peer support worker from the same background who has both the cultural knowledge to relate to people in communities in question and the digital knowledge they can pass on to them.”

Good Jobs, Better Health, Fairer Futures Report

Following these Listening Exercises, both New Wortley Community Association and Give a Gift were supported by 100% Digital Leeds to enhance digital access and support in their communities. Using money from UK Shared Prosperity Fund, 100% Digital Leeds awarded grants of:

£7,800 to New Wortley Community Centre to refresh their IT suite as part of their HOPE (Help with Opportunities to Prepare for Employment) project. HOPE aims to remove barriers that people face securing meaningful employment, especially those from diverse communities. People can get support with developing English, maths, and digital skills as well as help with CV writing, job searching, applications and interview techniques. New Wortley Community Centre made this video about the HOPE project.

£10,000 to Give a Gift to buy the equipment they needed to set up an IT suite. This means they can support refugees, asylum seekers, and disadvantaged communities by providing the means to develop their digital skills and engage with services digitally.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

100% Digital Leeds was allocated £400,000 of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF), and all of that money was used to increase the capacity of VCSE organisations to support digital inclusion. The funding had a specific focus on interventions and activities that build people’s confidence to use digital tools and services as an enabler to increase financial resilience.

100% Digital Leeds awarded grants to 39 organisations, including:

£3,000 to St. Vincent’s Centre Leeds to buy laptops for staff to use to support clients with application forms, ESOL, benefits, and housing.

£3,500 to Leeds Asylum Seeker’s Support Network to buy tablets for staff to use to improve their own digital skills.

£5,000 to Women’s Whispers to buy laptops and smartphones to allow the organisation to support Black and ethnically diverse women, including migrant women, fleeing domestic violence.

£9,000 to RETAS to buy digital equipment for use onsite for clients and staff.

£14,000 to Leeds Refugee Forum to buy smartphones to gift to refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in need of a device, prioritising those needing support with eVisas. Devices were gifted alongside a SIM card with six months of free data, calls, and texts, via the National Databank.

£20,000 to Damasq to buy laptops, tablets, charging cabinets and accessories, and a smart screen, to embed digital inclusion into new and existing programmes at Ebor Gardens Community Centre.

Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund

Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund continues to provide funding to VCSE organisations supporting migrants. The Digital Inclusion Fund is a permanent funding stream, with grants awarded on an annual basis. The fund is administered by Leeds Community Foundation in partnership with 100% Digital Leeds, using money raised by the city’s digital and tech sector through Leeds Digital Ball.

Four organisations supporting migrants successfully applied for Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund grants in 2023 and 2024:

RETAS received a grant of £5,000 in 2023 to expand on their existing essential digital skills courses to include upskilling around using NHS digital services, online banking, welfare and benefits services, and finding employment.

“Before completing the course, I had no digital skills and needed help to understand how to use a computer, including how to use a keyboard. Now I can create documents and use shortcuts. I would now like to explore working in IT in the future.”

Service user, RETAS

Complete Woman received grants of £8,840 in 2023 and £9,945 in 2024. They used the grants to run a Digital Hub supporting participants with a tablet lending scheme, gifting SIM cards via the National Databank, and delivering basic digital skills sessions and one-to-one digital support. This enables participants to access the internet, essential services, and information that they previously struggled to engage with. Many beneficiaries have limited or no internet access at home, and this initiative empowers them to independently connect to vital online resources, enhancing their daily lives.

“One of our service users relocated to the UK with her 12-year-old son during the school term. He was unable to secure a school place for half a term and had to stay home during this period. She was a migrant care worker and faced challenges finding stable employment and supporting her son’s educational needs while he was out of school. We provided her with a tablet with data, which allowed her son to access educational resources and stay engaged while at home. We also helped her with personalised support with her job search. With our help, she secured a new job where she feels much more supported. Her son has settled into his new school and is thriving. The digital equipment and support played a key role in helping them transition smoothly into their new environment. We were grateful for her feedback: ‘Thank you for supporting us during our difficult season, we are both in a much better place now’.”

Complete Woman CIC

Meeting Point received a grant of £9,889 in 2024 to set up a Digital Lab where volunteers and staff support clients with digital skills and access. People are supported with digital tools such as New to Leeds, transport and travel apps, and job search sites. Meeting Point also gift SIM cards via the National Databank.

Leeds Refugee Forum received a grant of £10,000 in 2024 to support the continuation of their established digital inclusion support offer. The funding has enabled the continuation of biweekly SIM card gifting drop-ins, provision of an internet café at One Community Centre, lending tablets to people who are in education to further their personal development, provision of digital skills workshops, and support with eVisa applications. The organisation will also be providing 15 beneficiaries struggling to afford wifi with ‘plug in and go’ Get Boxes via 100% Digital Leeds’s partnership with Jangala.

QFutures Fund

The QFutures fund is a partnership between 100% Digital Leeds, broadband provider Quickline, and Leeds Community Foundation. The fund aims to support community organisations working with children and young people to take a holistic approach to digital upskilling and activities for families which aid employability across Leeds and Bradford. Four organisations in Leeds were supported by 100% Digital Leeds to apply for this closed funding opportunity, receiving £5,312.50 per year for up to 3 years. Two of the organisations support migrant communities:

Afrikindness received funding to embed digital inclusion support into their existing outreach and intervention programme aimed at African communities. Initial plans include a survey of people in LS7 and LS8 to better understand local digital inclusion needs, followed by community focus groups to inform their development of the digital inclusion intervention. The organisation has gone on to deliver a series of digital skills workshops tailored to the needs of the parents they support.

“Before the sessions, I was scared of even opening my laptop. Now I log in confidently, help my child find GCSEPod videos, and even use the internet safely. This training has changed my life and I will still continue with the training.”

Parent learner, Afrikindness

Give a Gift received funding to deliver weekly digital skills sessions for some of the migrant families they support. Sessions are being developed to support digital literacy, including how to use basic programmes, email, and search for volunteering and training opportunities.

Digital inclusion and financial resilience

Multiply was a government funded scheme to improve adult numeracy skills, aiming to boost people’s ability to use maths in their daily life, both at home and work. The Leeds City Council Multiply scheme was managed by the Employment and Skills service. 100% Digital Leeds worked with Employment and Skills and third sector partners to use Multiply to support communities hit hardest by the cost-of-living crisis. Over three funding rounds, 19 of 100% Digital Leeds’s third sector delivery partners received funding to support almost 700 learners to improve their financial resilience by increasing their maths skills and their digital inclusion. Each learner was gifted a digital device and connectivity.

Damasq received £5,000 in 2023 and £19,000 in 2024 to deliver Multiply sessions. Their sessions, delivered in Arabic, supported 48 migrants with digital skills and household budgeting.

“I was able to visit one of Damasq’s sessions. It was delivered by one of Damasq’s members, a lady who works in user interface design and user experience. It was clear that having the class delivered by a peer put Damasq’s learners at ease. It also meant the session could be delivered in Arabic. Delivering the session in the first language of Damasq’s members removed any potential language barriers, making the session more engaging and easier for people to understand. The session covered the basics of internet shopping, a topic which appealed to the learners and was a great way to combine basic numeracy skills with digital skills. As an added bonus, the lady leading the session told me that playing this role allowed her to build her confidence in presenting.”

Alice James Hopton, 100% Digital Leeds. 

RETAS received grants of £6,000 in 2023 and £14,000 in 2024 to deliver Multiply sessions. 40 migrants with English as an additional language and very limited digital skills were supported with basic digital skills, digital skills for financial resilience, and online safety.

“The course was very good because I started from scratch. Now I’ve learnt to do things on the computer like making files and saving documents and I know how to stay safe online. It will help me to find work, access courses, and study.”

Multiply learner, RETAS

SIM gifting via the National Databank

100% Digital Leeds has supported 117 organisations to join Good Things Foundation’s National Databank, which provides organisations with free SIM cards with data, texts and calls to gift to people that couldn’t otherwise afford connectivity. Databank organisations supporting migrants in Leeds include Mears, Leeds Refugee Forum, Complete Woman CIC, Community Ambition, Women’s Whispers and Meeting Point CIC. Migrants can be signposted to SIM gifting sites and other digital inclusion support via 100% Digital Leeds’s Community Support Directory.

100% Digital Leeds run a quarterly Leeds Databank User Group in partnership with Good Things Foundation. The User Group has provided organisations supporting migrants with tips on gifting SIM cards to people with English as a second language, promoting the offer of international calls via the O2 SIM cards, and distributing materials to help people with ESOL activate their O2 SIM cards. Horsforth Chaplaincy Project secured a £1,000 activation grant in 2024 from the National Databank to establish their digital inclusion services within the charity.

Leeds Refugee Forum were invited to the Databank User Group to share their approach and the success of their SIM card drop-in sessions. To manage the high levels of need, Leeds Refugee Forum run two drop-in sessions a week for people needing SIM cards. They target advertisement of the sessions to people accessing support across Leeds Migration Partnership. Between June 2023 and June 2024, 715 service users were given SIM cards by Leeds Refugee Forum.

“Providing SIM cards helps our service users feel more connected to their local and global communities and with their loved ones.”

Leeds Refugee Forum

Include+ grant to research effective device gifting

In 2024, 100% Digital Leeds worked with Horsforth Chaplaincy Project to develop a digital inclusion support offer for asylum seekers at Mercure Leeds Parkway Hotel. Increasing support at this hotel was identified as a priority because its location on the outskirts of the city makes it difficult for asylum seekers to access services located centrally, leaving residents isolated. 100% Digital Leeds supported Horsforth Chaplaincy to sign up to the National Digital Inclusion Network and they were able to access 50 smartphones via the National Device Bank, to be distributed to asylum seeking men at the hotel, along with data SIMs from the National Databank.

100% Digital Leeds supported Horsforth Chaplaincy to successfully apply for a £5,000 INCLUDE+ research grant to explore how to most effectively gift devices to asylum seekers. Horsforth Chaplaincy’s research will help to inform national practice, ensuring migrants can be effectively supported with device gifting to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Driving corporate device donations to Solidaritech

100% Digital Leeds has worked with Solidaritech for many years. As part of Leeds Digital Festival 2024, the 100% Digital Leeds team hosted the Empowerment Through Technology webinar featuring speakers from 100% Digital Leeds, Solidaritech, Emerald Publishing, and Leeds Asylum Seekers’ Support Network.

In the last 12 months, Solidaritech has refurbished and gifted over 1,300 devices to digitally excluded refugees and asylum seekers across Yorkshire and the Humber. The webinar was designed to inform businesses and other organisations of the positive impact of donating unwanted equipment to Solidaritech, and the processes they have in place to enable secure donating. Solidaritech then work with local organisations supporting those from migrant backgrounds to gift the equipment to people who need it most.

Maximising the impact of social value

100% Digital Leeds is leveraging Tech sector support to maximise the impact of corporate Social Value initiatives to increase the capacity of community organisations. One example of this is 100% Digital Leeds’s work with Virgin Media O2 to implement their ESG commitments to best effect. This has seen eight charities share a donation of 100 SIM enabled tablets, and ten charities receive fibre broadband connections with no costs for five years. Organisations supporting migrants that have benefitted from this support include PAFRAS, who received 20 tablets, and Hamwattan, who were supported to install wifi for use by staff and the public at the Hamwattan Centre.

“Having a tablet to be able to stay occupied and to keep in contact with friends and family both within the UK, and in their home countries, is so important for people’s wellbeing. A lot of people are keen to engage with ESOL classes in Leeds, but homework is set remotely. Having a tablet with connectivity helps people to progress quicker with developing their English Language skills.”

PAFRAS

Next steps

The 100% Digital Leeds team will continue to work with Leeds Migration Partnership. The team has already contributed to the survey on the refresh of Leeds Strategic Coordinated and Inclusive Approach to Migration 2021-2025. They will follow that initial feedback with more in-depth discussions with Leeds Migration Team. They will also continue to support and develop the digital inclusion offer of VCSE partners who work with people from migrant communities. The focus of the 100% Digital Leeds team is to ensure the digital inclusion infrastructure across Leeds is bigger, stronger, and more sustainable year-on-year. This means that when people from migrant communities experience digital exclusion, they will be able to find the help they need, wherever and whenever they need it, delivered by people and organisations they trust.

The getUBetter app for people living with MSK

The getUBetter app is now available for people across Leeds who are living with Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.

The app rollout in Leeds is part of the  West Yorkshire Healthy Working Life Programme which is supporting people who are economically inactive due to ill health to return to work or stay in work and remain economically active.

A walk-through of the getUBetter app

This video includes screenshots of the getUBetter app, so that organisations can be confident in supporting any members with the sign-up process.

Further resources and downloadable posters and leaflets have been developed to support organisations to raise awareness and share information to support people in using the app.

Benefits of the app:

This free app can help to support people with muscle, bone, and joint concerns more effectively and efficiently, and offers daily personalised and targeted self-management for all common MSK injuries and conditions.

24/7 support approved by local clinicians.
Available via mobile app and through any web browser.
Available in 14 languages and touch-to-speak.
Easy to follow exercises.
Advice on when to seek help from a GP.
Access to local treatments and services.
Support for managing persistent pain.
Help when on a waiting list.

How to access the app:

Anyone registered with a GP Practice in Leeds can search for the getUBetter app in the app store of their mobile device and download it:

By visiting app.getubetter.com in a web browser.
By scanning one of the QR codes on posters and leaflets available in GP practices.
Via community pharmacies across Leeds.
Via a signpost from their GP.

The getUBetter app for people living with MSK: a webinar for community partners

100% Digital Leeds worked in partnership with Leeds GP Confederation to deliver a webinar with Lucia Dey, Head of Growth and Transformation.

The webinar gives organisations a first look at the getUBetter app and shares how patients can access the app in Leeds.

The webinar covers:

More information about the rollout of the getUBetter app in Leeds
More information about the features and benefits of the app
How you can support people to download and use the app
Information about what digital inclusion support is available across the city to signpost people to

Please note: Patients need an email address and a device to register. Once accessed, people can enter their home postcode and create an account to start using the app.

Supporting people with barriers to digital inclusion

Organisations can use 100% Digital Leeds’s Community Support Directory to identify where to signpost people to support with digital inclusion, such as accessing free wifi, devices, data sims, and digital skills support. Further resources to support people with digital health tools can be found on the 100% Digital Leeds Digital Inclusion Delivery Resources GoogleDrive.

Partner Profile: VMO2 Business

As part of our work to leverage tech sector support for digital inclusion, 100% Digital Leeds is building cross-sector partnerships that help the city’s third sector organisations benefit from the digital skills and capacity of the tech sector.

100% Digital Leeds has partnered with Virgin Media O2 Business (VMO2B) to find opportunities that maximise the impact of VMO2’s staff volunteer scheme, and their social value offer of free tablets and wifi for community organisations.

“Working with 100% Digital Leeds has made the process of getting our social value commitments into communities so much easier and more efficient because we share the motive of wanting to tackle digital exclusion. It’s part of 100% Digital Leeds’s goal, it’s in their job description, and it’s also part of how we want to deliver social value. So naturally, it’s an amazing fit because we’re trying to achieve the same outcomes.

We at VMO2B have the resources that 100% Digital Leeds are looking for to support organisations, and 100% Digital Leeds have existing trusted relationships with the third sector, so having their support to identify the organisations who would most benefit from those resources, and to broker those relationships with us at VMO2B has helped bridge a gap, ensuring our social value commitments could have maximum impact.”

Evie Metcalfe, Social Value Lead, Virgin Media O2 Business.

‘Connect More’ employer supported volunteering

100% Digital Leeds is working with VMO2B to ensure the volunteer capacity available via their Connect More programme is used to best effect by coordinating a programme of digital drop-in sessions in health settings across Leeds. The programme enables VMO2 staff to use their employer supported volunteering hours to deliver digital drop-in sessions to help people to use digital health tools.

The Connect More programme offers staff volunteer capacity to support digital skills and confidence for people and communities. Employees can take five volunteering days a year, and each staff volunteer completes Digital Champion training created in partnership with Digital Unite, ensuring they have the skills they need.

“Working with 100% Digital Leeds makes the process a lot easier for me. Partnering with an organisation with contacts on the ground means that we can get the support where it’s needed fast, so people can get the help they need straight away. When 100% Digital Leeds link me in with a GP practice, it’s clear the practice staff have already been given a basic understanding of what the programme is, and what we can do and what we can’t do. This means that the sessions run a lot more smoothly and it’s a better experience for me, the practice, and our volunteers.”

Freya Basey, B2B Digital Inclusion Programme Manager, Virgin Media O2 Business.

Over a period of nine months, VMO2 employees have delivered 38 hours of support across five GP practices and one community organisation, supporting 77 people to develop the digital skills and confidence to engage with digital heath tools, for improved health outcomes. Further sessions are planned in Primary Care settings in partnership with GP Practices, and in health centres in partnership with Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

On 1 July 2025, the Digital Poverty Alliance and VMO2 Business co-led a focused webinar exploring how inclusive digital healthcare can strengthen health outcomes, improve patient experience, and ease pressure on overstretched systems. 100% Digital Leeds presented on how Leeds has embedded digital inclusion into local health delivery using partnerships like VMO2.

‘How Digital Access is Transforming Health Outcomes’ webinar recording.

Digital drop-in sessions in GP surgeries

100% Digital Leeds has coordinated the sessions based on individual practices’ implementation plans for the rollout of Patchs and the NHS app. This has given patients the chance to access digital support and gain greater awareness of the tools alongside the timeline of the practices’ digital launches. 100% Digital Leeds worked with VMO2 to tailor the sessions to individual practices’ needs, co-producing a guide for practices to support with preparation and promotion.

The first sessions were piloted with Diamond Medical Group within the Central North Primary Care Network. Patients received one-to-one support with signing up for the NHS app, ordering prescriptions, accessing Patchs, and managing their appointments. 35 patients were supported in the first two sessions, with positive feedback from both practices and patients.

“Without someone to help me, there’s no way I could have done it on my own. It was nice to have someone to sit with me and show me how to use it. It’s made it feel so much more understandable, I struggle to remember things so having the How To… guide helps me go back to what I’ve learnt today.”

Patient supported with the NHS app at a digital drop-in session at North Leeds Medical Practice.

After the success of the pilot, 100% Digital Leeds coordinated a series of further sessions at three more Diamond Medical Group practices: Meanwood Health Centre, Street Lane Practice, and Rutland Lodge Surgery. Further sessions are planned for Garden Surgery and St Martin’s Practice.

Digital drop-in sessions in partnership with Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust (LCH)

VMO2 are supporting Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust with the delivery of digital drop-in sessions in Health Centres in south and east Leeds. The chosen Health Centres house both LCH services and GP practices.

At the digital drop-in sessions people will be able to get support with a range of digital health tools. These include digital tools such as the NHS app, Primary Care tools such as Patchs, and LCH tools such as their new Information Hub. They can also get support with condition-specific self-management tools such as getUBetter, an app that is now being offered to people in Leeds who are living with musculoskeletal (MSK) pain, supporting those currently on waiting lists.

Digital drop-in sessions will take place at:

Beeston Hill Health Centre, Wednesday 3rd December 2025, 10am to 2pm.
Chapeltown Health Centre, Tuesday 17^th February 2026, 10am to 2pm.
Middleton Community Health Centre, Tuesday 31^st March 2026, 10am to 2pm.
Halton Clinic, Tuesday 28^th April 2026, 10am to 2pm.

100% Digital Leeds has partnered with LCH since 2020. The partnership has continued to develop, with 100% Digital Leeds supporting LCH to embed digital inclusion into the trust’s Digital, Data and Technology Strategy, ensuring digital inclusion is considered across the whole trust. 100% Digital Leeds is working with LCH to ensure the trust’s staff are aware of the potential impact of digital exclusion, can easily identify digitally excluded patients, and can signpost people to digital inclusion support. LCH are supporting VMO2 volunteers with training on LCH and the patient-facing digital tools they offer.

“There are lots of digital health tools out there at the moment, and we need to be able to support people to use them. We have all of our clinicians asking patients digital literacy and ability screening questions as part of their assessments, so we know who needs support with digital. We have some clinicians going through how to set up an email address, and things like that, which they don’t really have time to do in a clinical assessment.

Until now clinicians have only had the option to signpost those in need of digital support to sessions delivered by community organisations. The support offered by community organisations is fantastic, but we don’t want to take up all of their capacity. When signposting to something at another location, on another day, there’s a chance people won’t access that service. Partnering with VMO2 means we can pilot offering digital support in a health centre, so clinicians can signpost people to something available there and then. If the pilot sessions go well, then we can plan more sessions, moving the support around the city.”

Amanda Jackson, Associate Chief Clinical Information Officer, Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

Tablets gifted to third sector partners

As part of their social value commitment to Leeds City Council, VMO2B donated 100 SIM-enabled tablets to gift to community organisations delivering digital inclusion support across the city. 100% Digital Leeds identified key third sector delivery partners in need of equipment to support digital inclusion for people and communities.

“Our partnership with 100% Digital Leeds has developed ways of working we want to replicate with other councils where possible. Working with an organisation that understands the needs of the community makes everything so much easier. We were able to ship the tablets to 100% Digital Leeds with the confidence that they would be distributed to the charities that needed them most, and where they would have the greatest impact.”

Evie Metcalfe, Social Value Lead, Virgin Media O2 Business.

Eight organisations received tablets: Barca-Leeds, Trust Leeds, AVSED, Positive Action for Refugees and Asylum seekers (PAFRAS), CATCH, Freedom 4 Girls, Halton Moor and Osmondthorpe Project for Everyone (HOPE), and Box Tree Court Residents Association. Between them these organisations support a range of communities more likely to be digitally excluded, including refugees and asylum seekers, prison leavers, older people, people experiencing homelessness, and women on low incomes.

The fact the tablets are SIM-enabled allowed organisations to pair the tablets with 4G data SIMs via schemes like Good Things Foundation’s National Databank . Being able to provide connectivity with the tablets gave organisations greater flexibility of use for the devices. Partners used the devices in a variety of ways, including use by staff to support service users’ digital skills and confidence, use by the organisation in digital skills learning sessions, and gifting equipment to service users unable to afford devices and connectivity.

Barca-Leeds

Barca-Leeds’s Accommodation for Ex-Offenders (AFEO) service supports people being released from prison who are resettling in Leeds. They work with people leaving prison who have nowhere to live on their release, who do not have any priority level for social housing and who would otherwise be homeless. AFEO works closely with the Leeds Housing Options service who have a partnership with local private sector landlords to provide rented housing for these people. AFEO is a Home Office funded national pilot project to test different approaches to providing accommodation for prison leavers and the Leeds AFEO service is one of the most successful.

Following release from prison, ex-offenders commonly experience isolation due to losing contact with family and friends, have a lack of employment opportunities and generally feel demotivated, lacking confidence and disconnected from society in general. These barriers can often lead to feelings of helplessness and can spiral into substance use and re-offending.

Barca-Leeds gifted a tablet and SIM card to a service user named Andrew. Barca-Leeds’s AFEO worker met with Andrew in prison before he was released to develop a plan. Andrew needed better digital access to enable him to look for work, rebuild and maintain contact with friends and family, and bid for social housing properties online within the Leeds choice-based lettings system.

Once the AFEO worker provided him with a tablet and a free SIM card with monthly data top-ups he was able to search and apply for work online, bid online for housing, and reconnect with his wider family, maintaining contact via email and social media channels.

“The addition of a tablet with internet access has clearly made a massive difference to Andrew’s life. He now has contact with his family, secured a job in a factory, and is in secure accommodation. Andrew has now successfully passed his probation order and continues to work full time. Having better access digitally has clearly been a beneficial part of his rehabilitation within the AFEO scheme”.

Khalid, Manager of the Engage and AFEO teams, Barca-Leeds.

Barca-Leeds’s AEFO staff have also used the tablets to embed digital inclusion support across their service. The tablets are used by staff to allow access to translation apps for better communication with service users who have English as an additional language, searching for information to support easier signposting on benefits, jobs, training and wider services, and encouraging service users to use digital tools to manage their health and wellbeing.

“Having access to a tablet when supporting service users means staff can be responsive, informed, and person-centred in how they deliver support. Easier access to digital tools and services brings flexibility, quality and consistency to the support we deliver.”

Khalid, Manager of the Engage and AFEO teams, Barca-Leeds.

Positive Action For Refugees and Asylum Seekers (PAFRAS)

PAFRAS aims to end destitution, increase access to social justice and advocate for the rights of refugees and people seeking asylum in Leeds. They work in a collaborative and empowering way, respecting refugees’ and asylum seekers’ knowledge and skills, resilience, and right to make decisions about their own lives. PAFRAS gifted tablets with SIM cards to refugees and asylum seekers who would otherwise be unable to afford a device.

“For us as an organisation, we get so many enquiries from people for tablets and phones. We don’t have a budget to be able to buy a device for all of the people who need one. When people are homeless, they live really chaotic lives, and not having a device makes things even more difficult for them, so it is really helpful when we can gift devices to people in those situations.”

Karen Pearse, Director, PAFRAS.

The tablets benefitted service users in a number of ways. Some used their tablet to more easily engage with solicitors helping them through their asylum claims. Due to the limited number of solicitors available to support asylum seekers, this work is often done remotely. As well as meeting remotely using video conferencing platforms, service users need to sign and return paperwork digitally. Having a tablet has allowed service users to sign and return documentation, or take pictures of documents as evidence to send to their solicitors.

Having access to the internet at home makes it easier for people to develop new skills. While many ESOL classes in Leeds are accessed in person, homework is often set remotely. Having a tablet with connectivity helps people to develop their English language skills more effectively. PAFRAS have also gifted tablets to families with children in school and college. As well as supporting students to complete online homework more easily, the tablets have been used by parents to better communicate with their children’s schools by using translation tools.

“People often have to wait a long time for an asylum decision. While they wait their only source of income is financial support from the Home Office, which is very little money. People have left a lot behind, and have nothing to do but wait, which leaves people bored and isolated. Having a tablet means people can more easily keep in touch with friends and family, in the UK and in their home country, which is so important for wellbeing. They can also access information about the asylum process, join classes to learn English, and get support from other services while they wait.”

Karen Pearse, Director, PAFRAS.

Freedom 4 Girls

The primary aim of Freedom 4 Girls is combatting period poverty, but the charity also supports low-income people and families from culturally diverse backgrounds in the Harehills, Gipton, and Beeston areas of Leeds, some of the most economically deprived communities in the city.

Freedom 4 Girls originally used their VMO2 tablets to form a tablet lending service for low-income families. However, it quickly became clear that the families receiving the devices had greatly benefitted from in-home digital access, and removing this support would be detrimental since families were unable to afford a permanent solution. In response to this Freedom 4 Girls quickly made the decision to allow families to keep the tablets. The 20 devices distributed are now actively used by approximately 60 individuals.

“This project has had a profound and lasting impact on some of the most underserved communities in Leeds. The tablets became more than devices – they became lifelines, enabling learning, connection, independence, and dignity. What began as a lending model has transformed into a vital support service, empowering families to thrive in a digital world.”

Tina Leslie, Founder and CEO, Freedom 4 Girls.

Most families had no access to suitable digital devices before receiving the tablets. The tablets have given families consistent, reliable access to online tools, educational content, and services. The tablets have allowed children to complete homework, use learning apps, and attend online classes through MEMEC school, helping to boost engagement, confidence, and a sense of inclusion in school life.

Many Roma and other minority ethnic parents gained digital confidence. With the tablets, they can now access information in their native languages, attend video calls with schools and healthcare providers, and explore more online services.

“I feel less scared now, I know I can do it.”

Service user, Freedom 4 Girls.

The ability to video call and use messaging apps has significantly reduced feelings of loneliness, especially among stay-at-home mothers. The tablets are used for NHS access, booking GP appointments, and school communication. Families report fewer missed appointments and stronger engagement with services.

“Now I feel like I’m not alone in the house all day.”

Service user, Freedom 4 Girls.

Free wifi for third sector organisations

As part of their social value commitment to Leeds City Council, VMO2B also provided five years of free wifi to 10 third sector organisations. The offer provides unlimited wifi usage for five years from installation, with a value of over £3,000 per connection. This offer allows third sector organisations to redirect funds to where they’re needed most, whilst supporting digital inclusion in communities by providing free connectivity.

The product is Voom Gig1 Business Fibre, providing up to 1000Mbps download speed and up to 100Mbps upload speed.

To be eligible for support organisations were required to be: not-for-profit organisations, in a Virgin Media serviceable area, able to grant permission for installation of wifi in their building, and willing to use the wifi to support digital inclusion in the community.

“It’s been really good to have 100% Digital Leeds as an expert partner on the ground. We recognise that every location has different needs, and we don’t have that local knowledge. Working with a team that has pre-existing relationships with a network of grassroots organisations has been really effective. 100% Digital Leeds already understand what the requirements of local community organisations are, and where our support would deliver the most impact. They can feed that information back to us at VMO2B and we can make sure that what we’re doing is targeted and beneficial to the community.”

Freya Basey, B2B Digital Inclusion Programme Manager, Virgin Media O2 Business.

100% Digital Leeds identified third sector organisations with spaces that are open to the community, hosting a range of different groups and community services, where lack of wifi was preventing organisations from embedding digital inclusion support into their offer.

The ten organisations that benefitted from free VMO2 wifi are: Hamwattan, Saint Aidan’s Parish Church, Harehills Lane Baptist Church, Drighlington Methodist Church, Seacroft Parish, Pudsey Community Project, Belonging, Empowering and Thriving (BEAT), Moortown Baptist Church, and Gildersome Methodist Chapel.

Hamwattan

Hamwattan is an organisation that supports the elderly community in Leeds, primarily of Pakistani and Kashmiri origin. They work to enable older people to live independently and pro-actively participate within their own communities. They provide support which reduces social isolation and financial hardship, and improves mental and physical health to improve the quality of life of its members.

Hamwattan were provided with a UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) grant for tablets and laptops for use in both social and digital skills sessions, as well as VMO2 wifi for their centre.

“The VMO2 wifi has made a massive difference to us at Hamwattan. Having access to wifi means we’re able to work more quickly as an organisation. We’re now able to use shared cloud documents and make Zoom calls, making administration smoother and more efficient. We can help service users access services online, and make online referrals, on the spot. Our staff and volunteers are now able to complete online training at the centre, which they couldn’t before.

The wifi is used by our service users, too. We’ve been able to launch digital skills sessions, supporting people to use the internet safely and confidently. People are learning how to fill out online forms, scan QR codes, and use apps such as Google Translate and YouTube. We’ve also been using the internet to support our English language classes, using online videos and games to make learning more interactive and fun.”

Zainab, Project Manager, Hamwattan.

“I like the digital inclusion class because I can use the internet to hear how to say things better. It helps me to speak with the GP and understand more.”

Service user, Hamwattan.

“I was scared to use the internet before, but now I feel more confident. I’m starting to send messages, search things on Google, and do things by myself.”

Service user, Hamwattan.

Next Steps

100% Digital Leeds will continue to find opportunities to use the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), and Social Value offers from digital and tech companies to build the capacity of community organisations to support digital inclusion. We are working with colleagues in the council’s Procurement team, and with Voluntary Action Leeds, Forum Central, and Leeds Community Foundation to strengthen and streamline the processes in this area. We want to make it easy as possible for community organisations to benefit from the digital inclusion support that digital and tech companies can offer.

NHS app support for Get Online Week 2025

To celebrate Get Online Week 2025, Good Things Foundation’s annual digital inclusion campaign, 100% Digital Leeds and NHS England worked in partnership to increase support for people in Leeds to use the NHS app. The Get Online Week campaign focuses on helping people discover the benefits of being online and building their confidence in using the internet.

In Leeds, GP Practices are promoting and rolling out the NHS app as a digital tool for people to order repeat prescriptions, book and manage appointments, have access to GP health records, and for symptom checking.

NHS England’s NHS app team used their employer-supported volunteering hours to deliver NHS app digital support sessions with four third sector partner organisations:

100% Digital Leeds coordinated the sessions based on the needs of the individual organisations, embedding the support within their existing weekly digital inclusion sessions.

Building digital skills and confidence

Out Together is a charity that supports older LGBTQ+ adults, providing social activities to combat loneliness. 100% Digital Leeds has worked in partnership with Out Together for over two years, supporting them to develop their digital inclusion offer, which has led to them setting up weekly sessions for members to increase their digital skills and confidence.

At Out Together’s Get Online Week session, the group’s initial discussion and concerns with the NHS app focused on:

Frustrations around the different functionality of the NHS app depending on which functions each GP practice has chosen to switch on for their patients.
Issues with verifying their identity when setting up the app.
Issues with logging in, PIN numbers, and the complexity of multi-factor authentication.
Questions around whether the NHS app can be used to manage hospital appointments and access notes as well as Primary Care.

Within the sessions the NHS app team volunteers shared a walkthrough of the app, answered questions and concerns, and increased people’s confidence and skills in using it.

“The session was really helpful. In the past I’ve tended to rely on my partner to do things online for me because I’m not very confident with digital. My GP practice is encouraging us to not ring up to make appointments, and this has meant I’ve avoided making doctor’s appointments when I probably ought to have had something checked out. The staff today have talked me through the NHS app features so that I know what to do, and I’ve bookmarked the app so I can easily find it on my phone. I feel more confident that I can do it myself now.”
Service User, Out Together.

Raising awareness of the features and benefits

The NHS app volunteers shared information on navigating the different features of the app, as well as a step-by-step walkthrough of the log in process, including how to access a security code sent via email without having to leave the app. They also showed people how to log in on other devices via the browser version, which has the same features as the app version. To support better understanding about the different features and benefits of using the app, 100% Digital Leeds shared the resource bank of How To guides for people to use on the sessions and refer back to afterwards.

“I had trouble logging in to the app because when I tried to log in it sent me an email with a verification code. I couldn’t get to my emails without closing the app, then when I had the code and went to open the app again, it sent me a different code! So I couldn’t ever get into the app. Today I learned how to see the code without closing the NHS app – I didn’t know I could do this by dragging down at the top of my screen to see my notifications. I learned how to copy and paste the code, too. So now I can access the NHS app!”
Service User, Out Together.

“I already had the NHS app but I didn’t know how much you could do with it! I had no idea I could access my GP health records going back 10 years, which is amazing and really useful.”
Service User, Out Together.

Morley Digital is a charity that provides digital inclusion support for people living in Morley and surrounding areas. The NHS app team attended their weekly digital skills session where they cover various themes such as health and wellbeing, transport, and staying safe online.

“It was brilliant to have the NHS app volunteers attend our group, they did a short presentation about the NHS app which was well received and informative. Many of the group members asked for one-to-one support with downloading the app, and help with how to use it. The volunteers took the time to spend with individuals and provided such helpful support and information.”
Digital Inclusion Worker, Morley Digital.

Working in partnership with Primary Care

Age UK Leeds is a charity that provides services for older people across Leeds to improve health, wellbeing, and social connections. Age UK Leeds deliver digital drop-in sessions at Swarcliffe Community Shop where the Get Online Week session took place, working closely with Swarcliffe Good Neighbours. Local Primary Care staff from Windmill Health Centre attended the Get Online Week session as many of their patients need support using the app to make appointments and order prescriptions.

“It’s great to deliver weekly support for people with all things digital, including using the NHS app. Many of the local practices are encouraging people to use it, and it means people can get the support in the heart of the community.”
Wellbeing Coordinator, Age UK Leeds.

Age UK Leeds will continue to deliver the weekly digital drop-ins at Swarcliffe Community Centre every Wednesday from 1:30pm to 2:30pm. Primary Care staff and local organisations can now signpost and refer people into these sessions to receive digital support.

“The digital support from Age UK Leeds is just what we’ve needed for our patients. Having somewhere to signpost them, and a safe space for them to be guided through the logging in process to take away any fears and concerns. Thanks to 100% Digital Leeds we’re also going to have digital inclusion awareness training for our staff which will really build confidence.”
Practice staff, Windmill Health Centre.

100% Digital Leeds will deliver digital inclusion awareness workshops for Windmill Health Centre staff. The workshops will help practice staff to better understand the digital inclusion barriers their patients face, increase their confidence in promoting the benefits of digital, and give them more options to signpost their patients to digital inclusion support in the area. This will link with 100% Digital Leeds’s wider work with Primary Care in the city.

Sharing feedback

Burmantofts Community Friends (BCF) supports people aged 55+ living in Burmantofts and the surrounding areas. Their Get Online Week session was held as part of their Breakfast and Browsers weekly digital support session, and many of their members had already signed up and were using the NHS app after receiving regular support from the staff at BCF.

“It was good to meet the NHS app team and hear more about the app. People fed back to them about how they use it and the features they’ve found challenging. We have lots of members who attend our lunch club that would benefit from help with it and would love a future visit from the team.”
Member Engagement Worker, Burmantofts Community Friends.

The NHS app team shared information about the NHS app roadmap, discussing the future improvements the team are in the process of making to the app to overcome challenges with navigation and features, and improve the user experience.

Next steps

Based on the success of the sessions delivered in Get Online Week, 100% Digital Leeds and NHS England are keen to continue working in partnership. Future opportunities to provide digital support for the app via the NHS app staff volunteer scheme is in discussion. 100% Digital Leeds will work with the team to ensure that this support meets community need, in partnership with third sector organisations and Primary Care teams across the city.

100% Digital Leeds is also working in partnership with Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), as part of their Connect More digital skills programme, to deliver NHS app digital skills support sessions in GP Practices across Leeds.

NHS app support is also available at the following O2 stores in the city:

Crossgates – Unit 53a, Crossgates Shopping Centre, Leeds, LS15 8ET
Trinity Leeds – Unit 3, Trinity Leeds, Albion Street, Leeds, LS1 5AE
White Rose Centre – Unit 12 South Mall, White Rose Shopping Centre, Leeds, LS11 8LL

Anyone can go into these O2 stores at any time and receive support with using the NHS app.

Partner Profile: INCLUDE+

The Inclusive Digital Economy Network (INCLUDE+) is a five-year project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The network is building a knowledge community comprising industry, academia, the public and third sectors focusing on inequalities in digital society. They commission specific research projects to explore how social and digital environments can be built, shaped, and sustained to enable all people to thrive.

In 2022, 100% Digital Leeds started working with colleagues at The University of Leeds on different strands of the INCLUDE+ project. Most recently, this has resulted in funding from INCLUDE+ for two digital inclusion research projects in Leeds:

Horsforth Town of Sanctuary received a grant to examine and evaluate the process of gifting devices to people seeking asylum who are temporarily accommodated at a hotel in Leeds.
Voluntary Action Leeds received a grant a grant for a Fellowship to explore how the tech industry, the VCSE sector, and statutory bodies can work together to create more effective and inclusive digital volunteering partnerships.

Horsforth Town of Sanctuary

Horsforth Town of Sanctuary, a part of Horsforth Chaplaincy Project, is a community project that has been running for the last three years. It has around 30 volunteers and a part-time Refugee Support Worker. The project supports people seeking asylum who are temporarily accommodated at a hotel in Leeds.

100% Digital Leeds has worked with Horsforth Town of Sanctuary for two years, helping them to provide smartphones and SIM cards with free data, texts, and calls to people seeking asylum. They gift SIM cards through their weekly conversation club and drop-in sessions. The SIM cards are pre-activated by the volunteers before the session to speed up the gifting process. Due to the high demand, Horsforth Town of Sanctuary also use Vodafone Charities Connected to access free Vodafone SIM cards with data, texts, and calls that last for six months.

Horsforth Town of Sanctuary are part of the Leeds Databank User Group, co-facilitated by 100% Digital Leeds and Good Things Foundation, where they share best practice, tips, and feedback with other community delivery partners.

“Each new person will have contact with one of our volunteers and can receive a SIM card when they first arrive at the hotel. We’ve trained three volunteers who have become more confident in SIM gifting on a weekly basis.”
Laura Schubert, Refugee Support Worker, Horsforth Town of Sanctuary

The research project funded by INCLUDE+ is exploring fair and respectful ways for volunteers who support people accommodated at the hotel to establish whether somebody needs a smartphone. It is also evaluating ways to create a good and fair process for volunteers to gift the phone and give related digital support to someone seeking asylum. Horsforth Town of Sanctuary will explore ways to create feelings of safety for the volunteer and the person seeking asylum when volunteers gift a smartphone, and how best to celebrate and induct that person alongside gifting the phone.

“Having a phone helps people communicate freely with their family and friends, and volunteer charities. Connection to families is really important for people. It helps them to access essential information to support their asylum claim and improve their English. It also makes them feel more confident that the Home Office and their solicitors can contact them. It helps people seeking asylum to prepare and get familiar with life in this country.”
Ian Kemp, Volunteer, Horsforth Town of Sanctuary

Research findings

Gifting was done during the weekly drop-in and conversation club. These sessions are always busy, and people come to the sessions for support with multiple issues in a short space of time.

Volunteers reported that adding smartphone distribution into these sessions affected the levels of trust and relationships with the residents. Access to a phone with data is of great importance to the people who are eligible, but there was a limited number of devices. The inevitable disappointment from residents who did not receive a phone reinforced the need to manage expectations and to be even more explicit about eligibility criteria.

The research found that offering device gifting in that setting had the potential to cause anxiety and tension. This distracted from the key aim of the group, which was to make people feel welcome in a new home, to learn English, and to foster a sense of community.

“Giving phones is really important. But the distribution process is difficult to get right. For our project, it had a particular impact when we tried to do it as part of the main session. We have been thinking about more effective ways of getting phones to people who need one.”
Laura Schubert, Refugee Support Worker, Horsforth Town of Sanctuary

Voluntary Action Leeds Digital Fellowship

Leeds Digital Volunteering Partnership (LDVP) is made up of representatives from 100% Digital Leeds, Leeds Community Foundation, Voluntary Action Leeds, Forum Central, and Leeds City Council. The partnership was formed in Summer 2023 after the success of the Leeds Digital Ball and Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund highlighted further opportunities for the tech sector to support the third sector other than financially.

LDVP fosters cross-sector partnerships that help the city’s third sector organisations benefit from the digital skills and capacity of the tech sector and enable tech businesses and their employees to gain new skills, experience, and a sense of community through work with not-for-profit organisations. Feedback from digital businesses and third sector organisations is that it is difficult to ‘find each other’ and form meaningful, mutually beneficial, lasting relationships.

LDVP proposed to formalise this feedback and to address this challenge through a robust research piece funded by INCLUDE+. 100% Digital Leeds worked closely with Voluntary Action Leeds and LDVP colleagues to secure funding for a Fellowship to research this issue in more depth.

INCLUDE+ funded a Fellowship to explore how the tech industry, the VCSE sector, and statutory bodies can work together to create more effective and inclusive digital volunteering partnerships. The Digital Capacity Officer at Voluntary Action Leeds worked on the Fellowship for six months and their final report was published in August 2025. Their research included individual interviews with many of the charities and tech sector businesses that work with 100% Digital Leeds, focus groups, desk research, and discussions with attendees at the Leeds Digital Matchmaking event organised by 100% Digital Leeds.

Research findings

The report proposes four strategic interventions to support impactful and effective partnerships:

Relationship Method, a practical framework for building trust-based, long-term collaborations between tech and VCSE organisations.
Social Value Quality Mark, a standard to recognise and promote high quality digital volunteering contributions.
Social Value Champions Network, a peer network to support cross-sector learning, leadership, and visibility.
Matchmaking and resource hub website, an online platform to connect organisations, share resources, and support collaboration.

The research has helped to focus attention on this issue and deepen understanding across sectors. It is a step towards developing the necessary infrastructure and resources to help the right interactions happen in the right way going forward. Leeds Digital Volunteering Partnership will continue to work towards empowering businesses and people that want to give their time to meet the needs of communities.

“These were incredibly important research projects for INCLUDE+, exploring issues of digital equity. The findings cement the importance of cross-sectional research not only in terms of identifying issues, but also in building real solutions.”
Helen Thornham, Principal Investigator INCLUDE+, School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds

Next steps

Lessons learned from the Horsforth Town of Sanctuary research will be taken into future device gifting schemes. Findings from the research will be shared with Leeds Migration Partnership, including top tips, a guide to gifting, and good practice principles for effectively gifting devices to those in need.

100% Digital Leeds is working with Hubbub on their Community Calling programme. This will enable more third sector organisations to gift smartphones to their service users who cannot afford their own device.

Voluntary Action Leeds will work with 100% Digital Leeds, the Leeds Digital Volunteering Partnership, and INCLUDE+ to implement the recommendations from the Digital Fellowship Research Project.

100% Digital Leeds will continue to work with INCLUDE+ to identify funding and research opportunities for VCSE organisations in Leeds.

Partner profile: Holbeck Together

Holbeck Together is a charity based in Holbeck, providing services to the local community, supporting people to stay socially and physically active, empowering them to make more informed choices and live longer. Holbeck Together became a Neighbourhood Network in 1992 supporting predominantly older people in Holbeck. Over the past four years they have expanded their offer and now support people of all ages, offering a wide range of activities.

They provide lunch clubs, walking groups, bingo, friendship groups, digital skills sessions and support, parent and baby groups, as well as out-of-hours meal services. Their community transport service operates seven days a week for people who are unable to get out and about independently as well as providing twice weekly shopping trips. Most of their services take place at St Matthews Community Centre, with a community café, a charity shop, a food bank, and social supermarket.

100% Digital Leeds has worked in partnership with Holbeck Together for over five years supporting them to develop and expand their digital inclusion offer. This included securing funding to recruit a digital inclusion worker who has been in post for three years. The worker delivers Holbeck Together’s digital skills support service, which includes a range of group sessions, one-to-one sessions, and most recently digital skills support in the wider community of Holbeck.

Holbeck Together has delivered a range of digital inclusion projects including Transport Connections, Digital Health Hubs, and gifting devices through Community Calling. They have developed their offer to include a wide range of digital inclusion support for the community, including digital skills support, SIM card gifting, a device lending scheme, and devices to use on site. All of these services are shown on the 100% Digital Leeds Community Support Directory.

Holbeck Together have recently embedded digital support within more of the services they offer to reach more people who may have barriers to digital inclusion. They are developing ‘mini digital hubs’ at locations in and around the community of Holbeck to increase digital skills provision. They are also exploring ways to increase their capacity and offer a variety of new digital sessions to meet the needs of their members.

Providing a wide range of digital inclusion support

Holbeck Together takes a person-centred approach to delivering digital inclusion support. After a successful funding bid in 2022 they recruited a Digital Inclusion Worker, Sean, who leads and delivers their digital support offer. They have identified and secured several funding streams since then, including Leeds Digital Inclusion fund in 2023, to enable their Digital Inclusion Worker to develop and deliver their digital inclusion offer. Sean adapts his digital skills support to meet the needs of the community, as well as creating a ‘digital hub’ within the centre.

Holbeck Together offer digital skills drop-in sessions three days a week, they provide digital support within existing activities such as the lunch clubs and coffee mornings, and they offer ad-hoc one-to-one digital support within their digital hub at St Matthews Community Centre.

“We see members regularly visiting the digital hub with a need for support on lots of things like blue badges, managing utility bills, using social media to stay in touch with friends and family, game apps, and basic digital skills support using a smartphone or tablet and setting up an email address.

But it’s not just our regular members who ask for digital support. We regularly get requests for support from new people who have moved into the area, and other people from the community. I’ve helped lots of people to fill in eVisa forms online, write emails to debt collection companies, housing forms, and employment support such as CV writing.”
Sean, Digital Inclusion Worker, Holbeck Together

Holbeck Together provide free wifi and devices on site for people to use to develop their digital skills and confidence, and a tablet lending scheme which helps members to get to grips with using a device when they don’t have one of their own. Holbeck Together joined the National Databank and use the Vodafone Charities Connected scheme to gift data SIMs to their members. They have recently ordered more SIMs as they have seen a rise in demand for data gifting across their community.

“I couldn’t use my phone before I started visiting the digital hub, but then attending weekly meant I could send messages, emails and even downloaded an app! After a bereavement, Sean helped me unfreeze bank accounts online, access pension and bill information, and even helped me renew my passport. I really enjoy visiting every week to learn more and have more independence.”
Ken, service user, Holbeck Together

Helping people use the NHS app

Over the past three years Holbeck Together has seen a rise in demand for help with using digital health tools, with many members asking for support ordering their prescriptions online, managing appointments, and navigating texts and emails from health services. Working in partnership with 100% Digital Leeds, Holbeck Together became a Digital Health Hub in 2022. They started offering one-to-one support with the NHS app and helped people to use their GP practice’s websites to manage appointments. These support sessions expanded based on demand from the community, and Sean now delivers three digital drop-ins every week to support people with digital health tools, using How To guides to support people to learn at their own pace.

“Many of our older members have really struggled with the changes in how they engage with their GP practice. It’s great to be able to sit with them and help them download the NHS app, spend time showing them how to use it confidently, and help them have less anxiety around making appointments on the app and ordering their medication.”
Sean, Digital Inclusion Worker, Holbeck Together

The range of digital support offered within these drop-in sessions has been varied, with many people needing support with medication ordering, appointment managing, booking eye checks, diabetes checks, and blood tests online. Anyone within the community can access these drop-ins for digital support. Sean is looking to build stronger relationships with local GP practices to help them identify people with digital inclusion barriers and refer them to the support sessions.

The national NHS app team contacted Holbeck Together to take part in user research feedback and they have been attending their breakfast sessions. This has given members the chance to feedback on the new NHS app user interface and feedback on how they find navigating the app, sharing any challenges they have experienced when using it.

Delivering the Transport Connections project

100% Digital Leeds partnered with Leeds Older People’s Forum to lead Transport Connections. The project was funded through the Department for Transport’s ‘Tackling loneliness with transport’ fund, and focused on improving older people’s access and experiences with transport across the city.

Holbeck Together became a key delivery partner on the project alongside other organisations in Leeds, supporting older people to use taxi and bus apps, with a goal to increase their independence when travelling around the city.

Holbeck Together found the initial barriers their service users faced included:

Lack of understanding of the range of travel apps available
Lack of digital skills in using the apps
Lack of understanding of the terminology used in the apps
Lack of trust in their own ability to use the apps safely, including concerns around inputting personal details

In response, Holbeck Together’s Digital Inclusion Worker designed and delivered a series of tailored digital support sessions themed around the most common travel apps:

Uber
Veezu
First Bus
Moovit
Trainline

The sessions were successful in helping members to develop their skills and confidence using the apps, and in raising awareness of which apps are available to give members more opportunities to travel around the city. Sean built peer support into the sessions, encouraging members to show each other the apps they found most useful, and sharing the benefits of booking travel digitally.

After the project ended, there was even more demand from members for support using travel apps. Holbeck Together decided to embed this digital support into their regular digital drop-in sessions.

“I was initially worried that I wouldn’t be able to use the First Bus app as it looked quite complex. I was so pleased the sessions helped me get more confidence with it, and I felt so much better checking bus routes and which bus stops I needed to be at. I look forward to taking bus journeys again. I even chose to get off at a different bus stop that I saw on the app so I could add a little walk and come home a different way!”
Janet, service user, Holbeck Together

Embedding digital inclusion support into other services

As well as providing support within the digital hub, Sean has explored other ways to reach people who may have barriers to digital inclusion. He regularly attends the coffee mornings and other sessions within the community café to chat to people and gain a deeper understanding of their digital inclusion needs and barriers. Sean also speaks to people as they come to collect a food parcel from the food pantry at Holbeck Together. He discusses the support available at the digital hub, and signposts people to the other elements of the digital inclusion offer including free data SIMs and access to equipment.

“When people come into the food pantry or when people come in to get help with their housing forms I ask, ‘What else do you need support with?’ It’s a comfortable setting and people really appreciate us asking what other support they need. I tell them they can come to us for digital support as much as they need. We leave the door open at the digital hub within the centre so people can come in whenever it’s open.”
Sean, Digital Inclusion Worker, Holbeck Together

More recently, Sean has started working closely with Chris, the Outreach Worker at Holbeck Together, to identify new ways to deliver digital support and reach more people. Chris delivers a range of support in and out of the centre and many of the people he works with do not have an email address or have low digital skills and confidence. Chris has started to refer his clients to the digital hub to receive support from Sean.

“I ask people if they have a device, if they have an email address, and I ask questions to understand if they need digital support. Then I can let them know about the digital hub. It’s made me think differently about how we can work together and take a two-pronged approach to providing support within Holbeck Together. I have my focus on outreach and wellbeing, and Sean focuses on digital inclusion.”
Chris, Outreach Worker, Holbeck Together

Holbeck Together partnered with Cycling UK’s The Bike Revival to offer six-week courses providing people with a free bike and support in riding their bike and bike maintenance. Chris led this project and explored ways to embed digital inclusion into the programme. Sean began providing digital support within the project, supporting people to use the maps app to plan cycling routes, how to MOT your bike using videos on YouTube, using the Beryl bikes app, and supporting people to develop their digital skills whilst taking part in the course.

Setting up digital hubs in the community

Holbeck Together’s outreach support is also delivered at a variety of locations within the community. Sean has started visiting these locations to offer digital skills support alongside Chris delivering the wider health and wellbeing support. This new way of working has enabled more of the community to access digital support outside of the centre.

This started with offering digital support at St Peter’s Court sheltered accommodation where many of the residents couldn’t visit the centre due to their mobility issues. On the first Friday of each month Sean is now delivering a digital drop-in there to support many people with a wide range of digital inclusion needs.

“I appreciate the digital support so much. They’re so understanding and are truly helpful and go beyond what is required. I find out something new every time and it’s given me a new lease of life.”
Jennifer, service user, Holbeck Together

Holbeck Together are exploring more sheltered accommodation schemes and other places in the community where they could set up regular digital hubs alongside the support offered by their Outreach Worker. They are also working with probation services in the local area to support prison leavers with their digital skills and SIM gifting.

“I didn’t realise how many people couldn’t get to the centre for digital support, but now I’m able to go to these other locations alongside Chris’s outreach work. I’ve seen just how many people in the community need digital inclusion support that I wasn’t aware of. It’s going really well and we’re now looking at more places in the community where we can develop digital hubs on a regular basis.”
Sean, Digital Inclusion Worker, Holbeck Together

Next steps

Expanding digital support

Holbeck Together are planning to set up an IT recycling and repairs service within the digital hub, as many of the members have needed laptop repairs or have donated broken devices. They plan to refurbish these and make them available to more people within the community.

Sean is also looking at some new themes for the digital skills sessions:

Backing up data on devices: exploring ways to back up photos and files, as many of the members attending the digital hub aren’t aware how they can do this
Job applications: more support around CV writing, applying for jobs and supporting people with accredited courses to increase opportunities for employment
Health apps: more support around specific health apps to support people living with long-term conditions

Corporate partnerships

100% Digital Leeds is working with businesses in the city on their social value offer. SCC expressed an interest in partnering with an organisation in Holbeck, which led to 100% Digital Leeds connecting them with Holbeck Together to explore opportunities for how SCC may be able to support their digital inclusion offer. This partnership has developed and Holbeck Together are keen to build a long-standing relationship with SCC.

Many of Holbeck Together’s current devices on site are outdated or working slowly, so SCC have offered to provide Holbeck Together with new equipment such as laptops, desktops, and tablets. This will expand their service provision within the digital hub and Holbeck Together have confirmed that some of the devices can be available at St Peter’s Court sheltered accommodation for residents to use outside of the digital drop-ins.

Increasing capacity

To increase their capacity to deliver digital skills support within the centre and within the digital hubs in the community, Holbeck Together are exploring options around recruiting digital volunteers. They are using Voluntary Action Leeds’s Be Collective programme, as well as speaking to the DWP about hosting a work experience placement that could support their digital inclusion offer.

Funding for the Digital Inclusion Worker runs out later this year and, with the increased demand for digital inclusion support, Holbeck Together are looking to identify future funding opportunities with the help of 100% Digital Leeds.

Heart of Holbeck

In 2023, Leeds City Council launched plans for the regeneration of Holbeck, allocating more than £15million to the ‘Heart of Holbeck’ project. The plans will deliver transformative change throughout the community and a key strand will support Holbeck Together to improve St Matthew’s Community Centre where they run their services and digital hub. Holbeck Together are keen to explore ways to increase their digital inclusion offer through this development and will adapt their service offer to fit with the renovation of their buildings.

“We’re extremely grateful to work in partnership with 100% Digital Leeds. They’ve been tremendous at helping us identify and apply for funding and helped us really shape our digital inclusion offer to meet the needs of our community. A big thank you 100% Digital Leeds, we look forward to seeing what opportunities our partnership brings in the future!”
The team at Holbeck Together.

Partner profile: Leeds Skyline

For the last year, 100% Digital Leeds has been supporting Leeds Skyline, an HIV support service based at BHA For Equality, to design, develop and grow their digital inclusion offer.

Leeds Skyline works with clients who are affected by HIV to provide them with the support and services they need to live healthy, happy, and independent lives following their diagnosis. Leeds Skyline identified that many of their clients were experiencing digital exclusion which was exacerbating their health inequalities.

100% Digital Leeds worked with Leeds Skyline to build the organisation’s digital inclusion offer. This included identifying the barriers to digital inclusion faced by their clients, identifying funding to buy new equipment, and delivering digital skills sessions using a person-centred approach.

“This group is a brilliant idea and I really needed it. I can check when my bus is coming now without having to stand for a long time at the bus stop.”

Leeds Skyline client, following a drop-in digital skills session.

Understanding digital exclusion for Leeds Skyline clients

BHA For Equality is a charity that runs health services across the North of England to support people who are disadvantaged by healthcare systems, and advocate for equitable healthcare for marginalised communities. Their HIV support service, Leeds Skyline, is a free, safe, and confidential service which offers both emotional and practical support for people affected by HIV. Their services include peer mentoring, counselling, support groups, activity groups, and one-to-one support.

While delivering support sessions, it became clear to staff that clients were experiencing barriers to engaging with digital tools and technology, and that clients’ lack of digital skills and confidence was having a detrimental impact on their ability to access statutory services.

Leeds Skyline approached 100% Digital Leeds to discuss how the team might be able to help with clients’ digital inclusion. The 100% Digital Leeds team delivered a digital inclusion awareness workshop with Leeds Skyline staff, including Support Workers and volunteers, to better understand the barriers to digital inclusion that clients were facing, and what effect this had on their lives.

“From support sessions it’s been clear how digitally excluded people are, and how stressful it is for our clients to have to use systems that they didn’t grow up with. They are having to adapt to digital because that’s how the world is now.”

Fran, Support Worker, Leeds Skyline.

Staff identified that their clients were struggling with things like booking medical appointments online, accessing Universal Credit, and signing up to Leeds Homes to bid for social housing. They explained that often their clients are comfortable with using widespread digital technology like Facebook and WhatsApp, but weren’t as confident with less well-known digital platforms and tools. Staff shared that there was also a lot of fear amongst clients, especially older clients, about the risk of online scams and fraud.

Staff explained that some clients experience many different additional needs alongside their HIV diagnosis, which can compound digital exclusion. These needs include homelessness, poverty, immigration issues, language and literacy issues, and other long-term health conditions, including mental health issues.

Staff also explained that some clients do not have access to the right digital equipment, and that Leeds Skyline didn’t have any digital equipment to use with clients outside of staff members’ work laptops.

Clients’ inability to engage with the digital world independently meant that a lot of the time staff were supporting clients to register with online accounts, get logged in, and completing online forms for clients.

“You can’t join Leeds Homes or have a bidding number without going online and helping people to do that is something that comes up quite a lot. Clients also struggle with booking medical appointments and dealing with Universal Credit. You must do it online and these aren’t things our clients can easily do. I think if people could choose not to do them, they probably would, but that’s not an option, so we help with registering, thinking of passwords, and logging in.”

Fran, Support Worker, Leeds Skyline.

Supporting Leeds Skyline to access resources and develop staff skills

100% Digital Leeds awarded Leeds Skyline £5,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) to buy digital equipment to use with their clients to increase digital skills and confidence, and to provide connectivity for clients. Leeds Skyline purchased tablets and headphones and a charging cabinet to make sure that their equipment was stored securely, charged, and ready for use.

“The tablets will mean that the service users will be more equipped to send their own emails, set up their own Patchs appointments, and shop online. This, in time, will reduce pressure from the team, who find themselves supporting service users with emails and online GP appointments weekly.”

Fran, Support Worker, Leeds Skyline.

Leeds Skyline initially felt their staff didn’t have the skills, confidence or capacity to support clients to learn the digital skills needed to engage with digital tools independently. 100% Digital Leeds linked Leeds Skyline with Out Together, a charity that has also received support from 100% Digital Leeds to develop their approach to supporting digital inclusion. Staff from Leeds Skyline shadowed Out Together’s digital skills sessions, increasing their confidence to deliver similar sessions at Skyline.

“It was encouraging seeing how a little bit of digital knowledge goes a long way, once you’re explaining it to a group. It felt doable.”

Fran, Support Worker, Leeds Skyline.

Digital drop-in sessions

100% Digital Leeds supported Leeds Skyline to access short-term additional skills and capacity to develop and deliver weekly digital drop-in sessions by linking the organisation with Voluntary Action Leeds. 100% Digital Leeds had previously supported Voluntary Action Leeds with UKSPF Funding to fund a Digital Capacity Officer. This role involves delivering digital inclusion support sessions in partnership with community organisations across the city and building people’s confidence to use digital tools and services. The Digital Capacity Officer worked with Leeds Skyline to develop and deliver informal digital skills sessions in relaxed and social settings where clients were supported with their issues or questions. The social element of the sessions allowed clients to see common issues shared by the group, which made people feel more comfortable in sharing their own digital issues.

“We found that while I was helping someone, other people would hear what I was saying and then anyone in the group who also had that issue or wanted to learn that skill would say that they had an interest in also learning about that. So then, it might end up being three or four people I was helping. This meant that they might come for one particular thing they need help with but then they’ll learn a lot just by hearing other people’s comments and questions.”

Katie, Digital Capacity Officer, Voluntary Action Leeds.

Clients were able to access the sessions in the familiar surroundings of the Skyline office, from staff that they already have a trusted relationship with, and who know them and their personal circumstances. Leeds Skyline supported Voluntary Action Leeds’s Digital Capacity Officer to develop relationships with the participants which meant that she could have more impactful conversations about what was important to them.

“Fran and I working as a team has been great because she is someone that they’re already familiar with and they have a trusted relationship with her. This really helped in the beginning because I already had that trusted person with me, and then I’ve been able to build relationships over time. It’s nice to know that they feel safe with me, that if they have any issues, they can just come to me and it doesn’t matter how big or small it is. They know that I’ll do the best I can to support them with whatever it is.”

Katie, Digital Capacity Officer, Voluntary Action Leeds.

Leeds Skyline’s digital drop-in sessions have been very well attended, with clients expressing the many ways in which the support has enabled them to do the things that are important to them.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know buses had apps! Now I just check when the next one’s coming, it’s so much easier.”

“I struggled to open documents that the doctors sent me via email, now I can open them with my Google Drive! So much better.”

“I’m so glad I can now add attachments to my emails. I can send pictures to my family without needing to always print them out.”

Skyline clients after attending digital inclusion sessions.

Having positive digital conversations with clients has been key to the success of the sessions, with participants feeling comfortable to talk about their lives, allowing Leeds Skyline and Voluntary Action Leeds to use digital tools and technology as enablers to support clients with the things that are important to them.

“Being involved in those conversations and really getting to know the clients has been so important, because it’s from those conversations where I’ve said, ‘OK, you’ve gone to see your friend in the hospital, how did you get there? Did you get there by bus? Do you have the app for the bus so you know what time the next one comes? Why don’t I help you download it?’ and then it means that the support is actually helping them with something specific to their lives.”

Katie, Digital Capacity Officer, Voluntary Action Leeds.

Embedding digital inclusion support into non-digital sessions

Leeds Skyline’s approach to all of their support work is to make sure that it is person-centred. Support is based around people’s individual interests and needs and is aimed at building on people’s strengths. This was the same approach that they took when designing their digital inclusion offer.

“We always like to think about people’s strengths, so that linked into our thinking about what digital tools people were already interested and comfortable with. For example, we know that WhatsApp is amazing if you’re on a budget and you’ve got to keep in contact with someone you love in another country. So we’ve tried to build our digital inclusion approach by starting with people’s strengths and focusing on what the fun and enjoyable activities are rather than going straight into telling people, ‘You are now learning a skill”.

Fran, Support Worker, Leeds Skyline.

Leeds Skyline embedded the use of their digital equipment across their different services, giving clients the opportunity to familiarise themselves with the tablets outside of a ‘digital’ session, and helping staff to explore how the tablets can help to enable organisational aims and objectives. This has meant that clients can see how digital tools and technology can impact on their lives in a way that is more relevant to the services they’re accessing, and therefore more meaningful to them.

“We ran a cancer awareness course and the tablets came in handy for fun quizzes about food choices. We downloaded a label reader app to help clients decode health info on food. We have also been using them in client one-to-ones for things like bidding on Leeds Homes or resetting a password. It is more empowering than if I used my laptop because the process looks the same as on a phone but it is bigger and easier for two people to see. It also means that I don’t have to handle someone’s private phone.”

Fran, Support Worker, Leeds Skyline.

Leeds Skyline found creative approaches to digital inclusion are less intimidating than a formal digital skills session, and more familiar, engaging, and accessible for clients.

“We have been introducing the tablets by stealth. We use them for games at our coffee mornings, using them for inspiration on a craft activity for looking up designs to decorate plant pots, and doing a guided meditation with headphones at the LGBT group. We have focussed on sharing music and finding things on YouTube and talked about what kinds of music are meaningful and mood-boosting to each person. That was particularly lovely because we’ve got one client who is very musical and confident in the field of music. He finds any sort of formal written task terribly difficult, so it was fantastic just seeing him negotiate YouTube and be totally in his element, but with this device in his hand.”

Fran, Support Worker, Leeds Skyline.

Next steps

100% Digital Leeds will continue to support Leeds Skyline to embed their digital inclusion work across the organisation and to work towards making their digital inclusion offer sustainable. Leeds Skyline are keen to explore funding opportunities to build capacity within the team to support digital inclusion as they have seen the enthusiasm from their clients, and the difference that it makes to their lives.

Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund 2025

The Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund is a permanent grant funding stream administered by Leeds Community Foundation in partnership with 100% Digital Leeds. The fund supports the development and delivery of sustainable digital inclusion interventions in Leeds. Grants of up to £10,000 are available to community organisations aimed at ensuring that individuals and communities in Leeds have the skills, support, and equipment to be active online, now and in the future.

Applying to the fund

The 2025 Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund launched on 1 July and is open for applications until midday on Thursday 11 September, with decisions being made in December. The grant criteria, eligibility, and all other relevant information can be found on the Leeds Community Foundation website.

Contact us for support in developing your project idea and fund application. To ensure you can make the most of the support available from the 100% Digital Leeds team organisations should read the grant criteria and eligibility, and watch the briefing event recording, before contacting us.

If you have any questions about your eligibility or the application process, please contact the Leeds Community Foundation Grants Team at grants@leedscf.org.uk or call 0113 242 2426.

Fund launch and briefing event

This year’s Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund was launched on 1 July with an online briefing event hosted by Leeds Community Foundation and 100% Digital Leeds. During the event we shared information about the fund’s criteria and application process, as well as the support that 100% Digital Leeds can offer.

Leeds Digital Charity Ball

Every year, money raised by the Leeds Digital Charity Ball is given in grants to community organisations through the Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund. Grants support the development and delivery of sustainable digital inclusion interventions in Leeds, and the fund is administered by Leeds Community Foundation with support from 100% Digital Leeds.

On 12 June 2025, the digital and tech sector in Leeds came together at the Royal Armouries for the fourth annual Leeds Digital Charity Ball. The event aims to celebrate the city’s growing tech and digital community, shine a spotlight on the importance of digital inclusion, and raise funds to narrow the digital divide.