The Access Foundation – the charitable arm of Loughborough-based business software specialist The Access Group – has approved £269,000 of funding to help some of the UK’s poorest young people access university tech courses.
The foundation was set up last year to support organisations in the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific countries, which are focused on mitigating the digital divide through facilities and learning.
The foundation said only around half of UK households earning between £6,000 to £10,000 have home internet access, compared with 99 per cent of households with incomes above £40,000.
Founded in 1991, The Access Group provides software services to mid-market businesses in sectors such as hospitality, not-for-profit, supply chain, recruitment, health and social care.
It has seen exponential growth in recent years and has been valued at £3 billion by management
The business – which has a new £20 million office on the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park – is in the process of recruiting 500 more staff, and saw revenues rise 50 per cent in the last year to around £500 million.
Access Foundation trustee Piers McLeish said: “It is a worrying situation that in an increasingly digital society so many people are being left behind. Digital access and skills are crucial to enable people to fully engage in today’s online world.
“It’s a key objective of The Access Foundation to address digital inequalities and help ensure that people from all backgrounds have the same opportunities regardless of their postcode and background.
“As such, we have prioritised our initial grant funding to support projects that are really making a difference and bridging the digital divide across the UK.”
He said that within the East Midlands, The Access Foundation has pledged £120,000 to support an annual intake of scholarship students to Loughborough University for the next three years.
The scholarships will be for students who want to study courses in computer science and IT management for business.
Professor Rachel Thomson, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience at Loughborough, said: “This grant will enable us to award scholarships to a cohort of 12 students in total, over four years, to study computer science undergraduate programmes – we are very grateful to the Access Foundation for their support in this important area.
“We are very aware that some students in higher education can face inequalities from early in life which result in barriers and challenges in accessing education.
“Our scholarship programme ensures that academic ability, not their financial capacity, is the reason a student can attend Loughborough and make the most of the opportunities here.
In the West Midlands, the foundation will donate another £120,000 to support a similar programme at Aston University. Scholarships will be made available for students who wish to study courses in computer science, computer science with business, and cybersecurity.
Professor Jo Lumsden, head of department for computer science at Aston University said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this grant from the Access Foundation.
“At Aston University, we are committed to providing opportunities to the most talented students to help them succeed in the exciting field of computer science and it is important to us that we break down access barriers to such success, especially those imposed by finance."
While in Hartlepool, The Access Foundation has approved a grant of £28,985 to fund the creation of a digital suite within The Big League community interest company. The suite will be for people to make use of the internet and equipment that they would otherwise not be able to access.
It will be staffed with trained helpers to support disadvantaged and vulnerable people in completing online activities which they would not be able to do on their own.
The organisation was set up to improve lives, with a particular focus on creating opportunities for education, training and employment.
