Funding totalling more than £50,000 has been provided to train vulnerable adults in the area in basic digital skills.
A1 Community Works, based at Crabtree Hall Business Centre, near Bedale, and edEUcation ltd, from, Richmond, have joined forces with adult education centres in Germany, Italy and Cyprus to develop a model of local digital champions who will work to support and train vulnerable adults in basic digital skills.
The group heard last week that their application for a European grant of under the Erasmus+ scheme has been successful and they have been awarded €181,146 to develop and test a training model over the next two years.
This story continues after the adverts:
Of this €61,536 will be spent in this area
The project called, Digital Champions for Community Success will build on some initial work that A1 Community Works has carried out with several communities in North Yorkshire, including Nepalese wives, the long-term unemployed, care home residents and adults with learning difficulties.
Speaking after hearing that their application was successful, Tanya Cook, chief executive of A1 Community Works, said: “Europe’s commissioner for digital economy and society, Maria Gabriel, cited a new study by the European Commission which shows that 80 million Europeans have never used the Internet, and 44 per cent have no basic digital skills.
“This project will tackle this problem at a grassroots level.
“Creating Digital Champions across Europe is about empowering that 44 per cent to save time and save money, but mostly to stay connected with friends and family no matter where they live. This is exciting. This will make a difference.”
