Scottish Charity Awards 2021 – Edinburgh Services

Lockdown was a difficult time for most people, and that was made even more difficult for families that did not have access to digital devices or internet. OPFS Edinburgh supported almost 100 single parents and their children to get online.

We had staff specifically devoted to increasing digital skills, a significant number of parents we helped approached the service for support with mental health and wellbeing, including counselling or employability or family support. Their ability to engage with those services was hindered by their lack of devices, connectivity or confidence. Their range of needs included having no device to access the internet, to only having a smart phone or outdated machine that made digital tasks difficult. There were parents who might have had a device and connectivity but were unconfident in what they felt able to do. In some ways, meeting equipment or connectivity needs was straightforward. But helping parents with the confidence to problem solve and seek new digital solutions to problems required helping them move beyond the notion that they were going to ‘break’ the computer by doing something wrong. Don’t just take our word for the difference we were able to make, here are a few quotes from parents that benefited from this service.

Please helps us win a Scottish Charity Award. All you have to do is vote for us in the Digital Citizen’s category

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