Digital help for Covid support

An initiative to help people with digital support has been given another funding injection.

The Scottish Government’s Connecting Scotland programme, to provide low-income households with digital devices and support, has been increased to more than £48 million.

Another £26.6 million for the third and next stage of the project, means a total of 60,000 households will be helped by the end of this year.

The Connecting Scotland programme was launched in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to provide digital devices, data, training and support to get online to those who need it most.

Aileen Campbell, Communities Secretary said: “There is no doubt one of the biggest challenges of living through this pandemic has been losing our ability to meet our friends and family.

“Throughout this crisis, the internet has been keeping us connected, informed and entertained, with the ability to learn, work, shop and access health information and other public services from our homes.

“With COVID-19 highlighting the digital divide, we introduced Connecting Scotland to provide devices, data, skills training, and support to those who need it the most.

It is one of the most comprehensive national programmes aimed at tackling digital exclusion in the world, unmatched elsewhere in the UK.”

It has reached 9,000 people at high risk from Covid-19, 23,000 families with children and 5,000 socially isolated older and disabled people.