Evaluation summary
The team at WDD recently completed a service evaluation working with Neil Cotton, from the wonderful Wessex Community Action.
We were so pleased with the feedback we received from our referral partners and beneficiaries that we decided to produce an executive summary, to share our impact with our wider community and help those that have kindly supported to understand just how much difference we have made collectively.
N.B Text that appears in italics is a direct quote from those surveyed or interviewed, as part of the evaluation process.
What do we mean by the “digital divide”?
The “digital divide” is a broad term, which is often used interchangeably with “digital poverty” and “digital exclusion”.
In simple terms, it is used to describe people who aren’t connected to the internet or don’t have the skills to be able to use the computers or the internet with confidence.
Ofcom (2022b) suggests that there are three parts to digital exclusion for UK based adults:
- • ACCESS - those who are digitally excluded because they have no access to the internet at home or elsewhere.
- • ABILITY – those who lack the digital skills and/or confidence to navigate the online environment safely and knowledgeably.
- • AFFORDABILITY – those who struggle to afford access to the internet, and so either go without it, or experience other financial strains to retain access.
How does Wiltshire Digital Drive help?
As our supporters will already know, we are working to fight the digital divide through enabling ACCESS to devices.
We take donations of old laptops, we refurbish them and then issue them to people who need them, via either our long-term loan scheme or our gifted chromebook scheme.
Our donations come primarily from our wonderful corporate supporters; these tend to be businesses in the region who are upgrading the tech they use.
Often someone from the business has heard our story and can see that supporting us by donating those devices is an easy way to make a real difference to the lives of other people at no cost to the business. They can be confident that their data is handled securely (we also accept pre-wiped devices) and while most devices are refurbished and redistributed to support the circular economy and alleviate local digital poverty, we provide reassurance that anything we can’t use will be recycled.
We also receive devices from members of the public who connect with our network of donation stations.
Who does Wiltshire Digital Drive help?
We accept applications from people in all sorts of circumstances.
Referrals must come via organisations who are prepared to sign our terms and conditions. By having “referral partners” we can seek quality assurance that those receiving our devices would genuinely not have another means of affording one.
To date, we have provided over 3,000 laptops to families and individuals in Wiltshire, neighbouring counties and across the UK. This includes young people in care, care leavers, carers, refugees, people fleeing domestic abuse, people with a disability, people on a low income, elderly and those who are socially isolated.
Evaluation outcomes
The recent evaluation has been hugely positive. Neil really focused on gathering stories about the impact that our devices were having and as a result we’ve seen how they’re bringing positive changes to people’s lives: everyone who responded to our survey agreed that they were able to do more online since receiving their WDD device.
We really enjoyed hearing about the difference that our devices had contributed towards education and the search for better jobs.
Over 60% of our respondents felt that they had been able to improve their education and have better opportunities due to our device. For example, respondents learned English, improved math skills, updated their professional training, achieved new qualifications and learnt life skills such as budgeting, confidence building and parenting skills.
Nowadays, many schools ask young people to use online portals to see and submit homework. This sounds simple, but for anyone who has ever tried to write a word document on their phone, we know that the task is often a lot harder and more frustrating than it sounds.
“Links provided from school are more accessible through laptops, so it was really convenient for the families to have an option of having a laptop screen.”
“Was only able to access homework on a small phone screen before”
In fact, recently a pastoral tutor from a college told us that out of four devices she had received from us, two devices had helped her tutees to complete level three qualifications and they had both subsequently gone on to get better paid jobs, and one device gave the tutee the moral boost that she needed to finish her level two work. She had been on the verge of quitting because she had found it so difficult to complete the course work without her own device.
We were also happy to hear the story of a Ukranian refugee who received one of our devices shortly after arriving in the UK: using the new device enabled them to maintain contact with family and friends in the Ukraine and across Europe, study and maintain links to their previous school in Ukraine. This minimised disruption at a crucial time in their education and on returning to Ukraine they received a place at their first-choice university.
We also heard that our devices are really helping people to feel less lonely and more connected with those around them.
The WDD team found this heartwarming as we believe in the power of connection and good relationships, and we really understand how important this can be when we’re trying to cope with difficult times.
We heard stories of people who were able to feel closer to people who are far away from them, simply because of being able to use a laptop with a big screen, rather than a phone, to make their video calls.
One project loaned laptops to children who are young carers, to enable them to come together in an online space and get the support and connection that they need. For children who have caring responsibilities, the time and space to talk to others who share their experience is hugely important, as is the ability to keep up those connections in between the times when the groups meet in person.
The mental health benefits did not stop there: we also learnt that, after receiving a device, users were empowered to take charge of new parts of their lives, such as making appointments for themselves and managing their personal affairs. This massively increased their confidence and had a fantastic ripple effect, with one person deciding to set up their own business.
In one case a person with significant health needs was able to take control of managing their appointments and hospital transportation following receipt of a Chromebook. The impact of this was an increased level of confidence which led to them arranging to represent themselves at a personal independence payment (PIP) hearing. This was successful and they are now looking to establish their own business.
Wiltshire Digital has enabled them to do something independent for themselves. To create their own future. It’s empowered them to be able to move forward. (Referral partner, group interview)
Promoting the circular economy: how refurbished devices are good for the environment
We are so proud of our disruptive approach in the world of technology and recycling! Whilst we absolutely agree with the need to recycle, we are immensely proud of our contribution to increasing the reuse of discarded tech, prior to recycling it!
We have saved over 9500 laptops from landfill, by promoting reuse and recycling.
To give a snapshot, data for a 6 month period in 2023 shows that 687KG of the technology that WDD was unable to refurbish or redistribute went back into the recycling stream for 100% materials recovery for manufacturing new products (off-setting mining of virgin material around the world) — equating to 7,789 KGs of CO2 emissions saved.
What’s next for Wiltshire Digital Drive?
We are so excited for the next chapter!
We have recently joined the Good Things Foundation as a data and device bank and will soon be launching a digital skills resource that will be available on each of our devices, so that people who need some help to learn new skills can easily find the help that they need.
We’re establishing new partnerships and looking to expand our services to ensure we are sustainable. We’re looking at new regions to work in and ways to better report on our impact too.
We invite you to read more case studies and feedback and to share our work with others.
