Our campaigns
We're campaigners. People who are digitally excluded lack a voice and visibility in the modern world, as government services and democracy increasingly move online.
Get Online Week
Get Online Week is a digital inclusion campaign organised by Good Things Foundation.
3.7 billion people are digitally excluded worldwide (ITU, 2020). 10 million people in the UK cannot get online independently (Lloyds Consumer Digital Index, 2021). A lack of digital skills and access can have a huge negative impact on a person’s life, leading to poorer health outcomes and a lower life expectancy, increased loneliness and social isolation, less access to jobs and education. If the last two years have taught us anything, it’s how vital digital skills are to our wellbeing and safety.
In 2007, a date in October was first marked out to bring digital inclusion to national attention in the UK – and Get Online Day was born. In 2010, and for every year since, the campaign became a week-long, annual celebration, with thousands of events taking place in communities across the UK, giving everyone the chance to find the help they need to improve their digital skills.
In 2018 Good Things Foundation Australia joined the Get Online Week family and has been delivering the campaign then and each year since.
Get Online Week sees thousands of local events take place each year hosted by community organisations, giving everyone the chance to find the support they need to improve their digital skills and get motivated to learn more.
Last year, over 400 community organisations in the UK held events for people with low digital skills, reaching over 20,000 people.
72% of event holders said the campaign helped them to reach new people. In addition to supporting people to improve their digital skills, they also found it positively contributed to their community’s well being and helped people to socially connect with others.
89% said it raised awareness of digital inclusion and the benefits of learning digital skills.
This year’s Get Online Week campaign took place from 18 – 24 October 2021.
We believe everyone deserves the opportunity to safely participate in our digital world and no one should be left behind. Through Good Things Foundation’s network of community organisations and with the help of our supporters, events and activities again took place in hundreds of communities to spread the Get Online Week message that everyone can: Get online. Get connected.
Fix the Digital Divide
In the UK there are 7 million people who do not have the internet at home due to lack of affordability, there are over 10 million people who don’t have a smartphone, and we know that digital exclusion is a determinant of health inequality.
When COVID-19 struck, we knew that millions of people would be denied basic human needs due to their lack of a device, connectivity and skills. Suddenly, people could not register for help on recommended websites for healthcare, couldn’t shop online or support their children’s learning, register for government support and funds, or speak to friends and family.
We know that people who need to self-isolate are putting their health at risk by going out, just because they don’t have a device to connect to the internet, as well as lacking affordable data and the skills to use the internet in a purposeful way.