The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA), is distributing laptops to compliment the launch of Westminster’s Open Roaming Initiative, providing wraparound services to foster inclusion and ensure young people can access the digital world.
The project builds on Westminster’s new OpenRoaming initiative, which provides free, public access to Wi-Fi across the borough. Tech4Youth Westminster bridges the next critical gap: ensuring young people not only have internet access, but also the devices and confidence needed to fully participate in digital life.
Research from Trust for London analysed 2021 census information to discern the poverty rate in Westminster specifically of 42 per cent is considerably high to the rest of London and, in many Westminster schools, as many as 45 per cent of students either lack access to the internet or rely solely on a shared smartphone at home.
The Tech4Youth Westminster initiative will provide refurbished laptops and digital skills workshops, directly tackling the three core pillars of digital exclusion: access, connectivity, and confidence.
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, commented: “Digital exclusion is one of the greatest inequalities facing young people today, especially in areas like Westminster, where high poverty rates hide behind affluence. Tech4Youth Westminster is about putting practical tools into young people’s hands, literally.”
“By combining device access with free internet and skills training, we’re giving young Londoners the chance to learn, connect, and thrive in a digital world. This project shows the power of local action in closing the digital divide.”
Through close partnership with Westminster City Council and local charities, the DPA will distribute devices and deliver skills workshops in 2025. Families will also be invited to share their experiences, helping to build a broader picture of digital inclusion’s impact on education, employment, and daily life.
Tech4Youth Westminster is a bold example of how grassroots innovation and national strategy can come together to create lasting change – and help ensure no young person is left behind in our digital society.
About the Digital Poverty Alliance
The Digital Poverty Alliance is a non-profit charity convening individuals from across business, government, charity and education, with the sole aim of eradicating digital poverty in the UK, and ultimately globally. The organisation works to bring together the multiple initiatives and research on digital poverty across the UK to create one national strategy.
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