Josh Ogunyemi used to walk more than half an hour just to use the internet. If the 60-year-old jobseeker from Blackley wanted to reply to emails or stay in touch with family and friends on social media, he had to go to his local library.
Unemployed since 2017, Josh does not want to sign a mobile phone contract for a long period. And because he is on a low income, he cannot afford to be online at home – especially with the cost of other household bills increasing.
But last year, his life changed all thanks to a SIM card. The free mobile phone chip which allows him to use 20GB of data every month means he no longer needs to worry about browsing the web from the comfort of his own home.
READ MORE: Join the FREE Manchester Evening News WhatsApp community
Like thousands of people in Greater Manchester who have limited access to the internet, he got the free SIM card from a local databank. Part of a national initiative, the databanks are described as 'food banks for connectivity data'.
Josh, who lives alone, can now look for jobs online without the long journey to the library. And after completing a digital skills course linked to the scheme last year, he can also keep track of his finances at home by banking online.
"I had a phone, but there wasn't much data," he explained. "When I had limited data, I used to have to monitor what I could use. But this gives me more time."
Since launching last June, Greater Manchester's Databank has helped 20,000 people like Josh who cannot afford mobile data packages. The SIMs provided through the scheme, which is part of the Good Things Foundation and Virgin Media O2’s National Databank, give people mobile data, talk minutes and texts.
It comes as an estimated 700,000 people in Greater Manchester only use the internet in 'a narrow or limited way', with 450,000 residents classified as ‘non-users’. The Greater Manchester Databank is an 'emergency response' to help 'digitally excluded' people who cannot afford mobile data or home broadband.
The 20,000 SIMs provided so far in Greater Manchester have been distributed through the 100 digital inclusion hubs in the city-region, a growing network which includes women's refuges, carer support groups, libraries and food banks. Josh found out about the databank after doing a digital skills course.
The Learn My Way programme, which had been promoted to him through Manchester council housing services team, taught him basic skills such as using the internet, social media and online banking as well as a bit of touch typing. Andrew Bevan, who works in the housing team, referred Josh to his local databank in Moston run by North Manchester Community Partnership.
The digital inclusion officer said that, as well as offering the free SIM cards, the databank scheme supports people who need help using technology too. "We teach and support people so they can do things for themselves," he said.
Local community organisations across the city-region have been encouraged to apply to become a databank so that they can offer residents who cannot afford mobile or broadband packages free data for up to 12 months as well as digital skills training and support. It comes after the most recent Greater Manchester Residents’ Survey found around one in nine people cannot always afford internet connectivity through mobile data or an internet connection.
The national databank initiative allows organisations to hand out free SIMs via Good Things Foundation’s network of Digital Inclusion Hubs. CEO Helen Milner OBE said: "We’re delighted to see the Greater Manchester Databank reach this important milestone of supporting 100 Digital Inclusion Hubs and issuing 20,000 SIMs to eligible residents in need after just nine months in action.
"Good Things Foundation’s National Databank combined offer of devices, data and digital skills support is already helping reduce the digital divide through local and regional databanks like this one in Greater Manchester, giving people an essential digital lifeline against the backdrop of the cost of living crisis. But with 2m households still struggling to afford internet access in the UK today, and 10m adults lacking the most basic digital skills, collectively we all need to do more to help the most vulnerable people in our society connect with digital.
"This underpins our 2022-2025 strategy, asking for more ambitious and far-reaching change as we scale up and expand our work in the UK. Together, we can help fix the digital divide – for good."
The databank is part of the Get Online Greater Manchester campaign which signposts the support available for people to access the internet. Helping Hand also brings together advice and support available in Greater Manchester and nationally to residents who need help with digital, housing and energy bills.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said: "I’m delighted to celebrate the milestones the Greater Manchester Databank has achieved. Over the last nine months, through a network of local Digital Inclusion Hubs across the region, the databank has provided mobile connectivity to over 20,000 residents facing levels of digital exclusion. This reinforces the scale of this challenge.
"Collectively, we need to do more to ensure our people aren’t disadvantaged and that everyone has equal access to the opportunity that digital brings, like ensuring residents can get connected and stay connected, particularly in the era of a cost-of-living crisis.
"The National Databank by Good Things Foundation and Virgin Media O2, of which the Greater Manchester Databank is part, is going a long way in helping us with an emergency response to tackle the issue of digital poverty and supporting our residents to ensure they do not get left behind."
To find out more about the Greater Manchester Databank and Greater Manchester’s ambitions to fix the digital divide, visit the Greater Manchester Databank website.
Read more of today's top stories here.
READ NEXT:
