Digital support for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

There are a number of key national schemes that can be accessed by organisations who want to offer digital support.

National Digital Inclusion Network

The National Digital Inclusion Network is coordinated The Good Things Foundation. Members of this network gain access to the National Databank and National Devicebank, a crucial support network of free access to data and devices for those who need it.

DataMap Wales

The Welsh Government’s DataMap Wales service helps identify places you can visit or signpost to support someone to get online.

Learn My Way

Learn My Way provides bitesize basic digital skills courses for learners. You could use these in a basic digital skills support session you are hosting.

There are lots of basic digital skills that you learn through different online experiences, and many are transferable to different tasks. The ability to fill out online forms, create accounts and navigate websites are used for many different online services.

By finding inspiring digital activities, we can make learning basic digital skills a more meaningful experience for someone going online for the first time.

Explore hobbies, interests and activities that provide positive experiences. These activities could be things that people start to do independently, and they could even lead to new experiences. As well as this, these opportunities encourage interest in being online and allow skills to be applied in different ways.

• Think about a time when someone has helped you to do something, how did it make you feel?
• First time internet users need support and encouragement. Basic digital skills require time and opportunities to learn.
• Use hobbies and interests as a hook and a means to encouraging longer-term digital engagement. You can
  then signpost individuals to further support or community based options for developing their digital skills.

Sometimes low confidence internet users are unaware of their basic digital skills and how it relates to different digital tasks. It can be useful to draw on relatable examples to build confidence:

• If you can send a text message, you can use WhatsApp.
• If you can signup to Facebook, you can signup to other accounts.
• If you can watch Netflix, you can also use YouTube or iPlayer.
• If you can search on Google, you can also search online shops.

It is important that you identify engaging topics to make learning basic digital skills more relatable. From practicing driving theory tests, to accessing videos of someone’s home town. These are the elements that will draw attention and engagement.

Basic digital skills support opportunities may arise as part of the enquiries you receive in your job role, or they may be new ideas you wish to implement because you recognise a digital skills gap in the area you work in.

For example you may notice that lots of people you support struggle with creating or accessing email. Or that individuals often ask for support with accessing their UKVI share code online.

Just the act of recognising a digital skills gap and providing some informal support can go a long way. Combine this with utilising existing support opportunities and you are now making leaps of progress for digital inclusion.

Some opportunities for digital support could include:

• set up a device area with Learn My Way available
• utilise the National Data bank and Device Bank, in case those
  you support need help with connectivity
• understand connectivity at your venue, and how people can join
  it
• recognise digital skills gaps for specific digital services that you come across in your role. E.g. Accessing UK Visa online
• know what digital inclusion support is available locally for signposting or collaborating with

Perhaps you already offer digital skills support, or you want to plan for the future. In any case, considering processes for monitoring impact will be beneficial. This could take many forms, or be a simplified process, it really depends on your time and the appropriateness of the type of monitoring:

• Simple surveys or feedback buttons.
• Longer term case studies of support provided.
• Photographs of support offered.
• Formal or informal interviews, audio or video recorded.
• Suggestions box, from the communities you support.

The Digital Inclusion Evaluation Toolkit is designed to be a starter point for anyone looking to explore how evaluation can help with their digital inclusion work.