As we support our partners to grow their businesses we too look to sustainably, responsibly and ethically grow our own business whilst communicating, measuring and improving our impact in the community, for the environment and our people. As a fintech, our latest initiative to support this thinking, built around digital inclusion, has been particularly meaningful to us.

Laptops donated to improve digital inclusion

One of the very obvious challenges that has been highlighted from the current COVID 19 crisis is that while home schooling and the demand for remote learning became a reality, there remains a significant proportion of the British 11-17 year child population that either does not have access to a computer/internet to do homework, or has access to only one device, which needs to be shared by the whole family.

It is realistic to expect that this need for digital access will only continue and grow into the future, and that this discussion will become louder and stronger over the coming months and years. Unless
something changes, it is highly likely that those children who do not have access to a digital education will be left behind and the social and economic impact of that could be devastating, for those individuals and also for the UK as a whole.

The Epsom & Ewell foodbank, operating in Premium Credit’s local community, believes that addressing this digital divide is something that requires an urgent call to action and as well as providing food to those in need, has also set up a scheme to promote digital inclusion. This initiative struck a real chord with us prompting Premium Credit to offer an initial donation of 25 pre-used, wiped clean, laptops for distribution to those in need.

In the spirit of hope, this small gesture allows us to contribute to a vision of digital inclusion for young people. Vitally needed, digital inclusion projects like this are being run at locations around the country and a great way to give back if this is an activity you’d also like to support.