Vodafone has announced that charities of any size can apply through Vodafone’s charities.connected programme to get free SIM cards complete with unlimited calls and texts plus 20GB of data per month for six months at no cost. The firm said that the pandemic has seen 20% of charities cancelling services because they didn’t have the required technical skills or technology needed to deliver them.
The SIM cards can be used to help individuals and families get online or they can be used to help charities improve their own digital capabilities. The SIM cards work on a wide range of devices including phones, tablets, laptops, MiFi, or dongles so charities can get creative about how they’re put to use to help their communities.
Commenting on digital exclusion in the country, Helen Lamprell, General Counsel and External Affairs Director at Vodafone UK, said:
“At Vodafone, we’ve put tackling digital exclusion at the heart of our business with our pledge to connect one million people by the end of 2022.
We hope that by giving free connectivity to charities across the UK, we can enable them to better support their local communities, particularly those that are digitally excluded.”
The new initiative to get charities and their communities connected is just the latest effort being made by Vodafone to close the digital divide. Other initiatives it has include Buy One Give One, which lets you connect someone in digital poverty, and the Great British Tech Appeal which lets you donate your old devices to get the excluded online.