After helping to launch the digital inclusion campaign, we are now leading Nobody in the Dark into its next chapter
Quids in! and our parent company Clean Slate are now leading Nobody in the Dark – the groundbreaking campaign to raise awareness of digital exclusion and get more people online.
Nobody in the Dark was launched as a response to the world moving online as the Covid pandemic took hold. Along with Clean Slate, Mastercard, Lloyds Bank and Good Things Foundation shared their expertise to get the project off the ground.
Together, we wanted to understand more about the challenges faced by people who couldn’t or didn’t want to be online – and what we could do to help.
With Clean Slate taking the helm, the award-winning Nobody in the Dark will continue to raise awareness of the issues, providing free tools and signposting to those at risk of digital and financial exclusion. And we’ll still be working with our partners to reach as many people as possible.
How are we doing?
The Lloyds 2022 Digital Skills Index suggests that 99 per cent of Brits now make use of the internet (up from 89 per cent in 2016). But there is still a gap when it comes to digital inclusion.
Around 14 million people have the lowest measure of digital ability and are likely to struggle with online services and be at risk of exclusion from things like Universal Credit. And of course the cost-of-living crisis hasn’t helped.
How it started – the campaign
On 10 November 2020, using the words of poet Hussain Manawer, Mastercard lit up tower blocks in Bristol and London for 19 minutes 40 seconds. That represented the 19.4 million people who didn’t feel prepared for difficult times ahead due to digital or financial exclusion.
The campaign began to tackle the problems with practical help, such as online resources and one-to-one support in 20 communities across the UK.
The aim? To shine a light on the people in the UK who are still in the dark about their digital finances and make sure the right help is there for those who need it.
What help is out there?
The Learn My Way website hosts free, simple courses and is run by Good Things Foundation. It covers everything from keyboard skills to Universal Credit. Our own Future-Proof Finance Quiz is a self-guided resource helping people to take charge of their finances while learning useful digital skills. It has 25 yes/no questions and is free, simple and secure. And the National Databank provides free data to 500,000 people who need it. The data is handed out via Good Things Foundation’s community partners, along with Virgin Media O2, Vodafone and Three.
