The Citizen Online

2024 marks 25 years of Citizens Online. Read about our work and impact in the timeline below, as we ready to join forces with AbilityNet next week! You can read more about our previous work on our webpage.

On 1 July 2024 Citizens Online and AbilityNet charities will merge, joining forces to support more digitally excluded people, and create stronger impact. Both charities share a common mission: to bridge the digital inclusion gap and improve lives through technology, especially for disabled people. By combining resources, expertise, and passion, the joint charity will achieve even better results in boosting digital inclusion.

One of our digital champions supports several learners in Brighton & Hove. The stories below bring to life how having a device and digital support can improve confidence and wellbeing. Nigel lives with dementia. He had often seen his family members using devices and wanted to learn how to use his iPad, so that he could join them in the digital world. We had regular weekly sessions where Nigel could take time to explore the iPad in a safe and non-judgemental environment.

Pamela – contacted Citizens Online as her email had been hacked and unauthorised emails were being sent out to all her contacts. This is typically referred to as “email phishing.” The aim is to trick the recipient of the spam email into disclosing their personal information or asking them to click on a suspicious link. We checked Pamela’s email address for a security breach on the ‘Have I Been Pwned’ website, which confirmed that the email had been compromised.

We’re delighted to publish the Citizens Online Impact Report for our work in 2023/ 2024. We are a small but mighty team and this report highlights the amazing impact we achieve through our collaborative approach. We are immensely proud of helping at least 8223 learners, distributing 969 devices and supporting 386 digital champions last year. Despite our numbers of digital champions being smaller, we have ran more support sessions and gifted more devices than last year.

Citizens Online runs weekly drop in sessions in Bala, Gwynedd, to offer residents personalised support with technology. Richard, our digital champion who runs these sessions, recently shared how privileged he feels to have had the opportunity to support local resident Mr Jones who is 84 years of age.

After a recent stay in hospital, Sophie was referred into us at Digital Brighton & Hove by her local Hospital Discharge service. She has multiple disabilities that impact significantly on her life and needs to be able to access support groups, but these are held online. Sophie explained to the referrer that she has a laptop but was not very sure how to use it, and that she would like to feel more confident with it.

The world we live in has been transforming digitally for some time, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, the role that technology plays in our lives, has increased rapidly. Recently, Citizens Online were invited to give evidence at the Women and Equalities Committee, on the impact of digitisation on older people. The Committee is examining, the rights of older people. Our Managing Director, Helen Dobson, spoke at the Committee.

Rachael has been coming to Botwnnog near Pwllheli for a few months with the aim to create and grow her own massage business in Pwllheli. First, we gave her a laptop to help set up a website for her business. Then we continued to work with Rachael, teaching her how to create and edit a simple website to help promote her business. She describes herself on her new website: “Hello, My name is Rachael and I am a qualified Complementary Therapist based in Pwllheli.

Worthing Medical Centre is a member of the West Sussex Digital Inclusion, Access and Safety Partnership. The surgery is located in a low-income area and provides services to many patients facing homelessness, mental health challenges, and long-term health conditions. Niamh is a digital ambassador at the Centre. She promotes the benefits of using digital tools and the NHS App to patients. Niamh supports patients with the basic digital skills needed to become safe and confident to use technology.