We spoke to Sarah Williment, Director at Bath Bridge and Programme Director for The Bath Future Talent Programme, about the Digital Divide Collective initiative to tackle digital poverty in the region. She sheds light on the challenges facing disadvantaged communities and explains how local businesses and individuals can help bridge the digital gap.
Sarah Williment, Programme Director of the Bath Future Talent Programme and a Director at Bath Bridge, feels passionately about tackling digital exclusion. Since the establishment of Bath Bridge in 2012, created to support Bath’s aspirational identity and dynamic future, the community interest company (CIC) has evolved significantly. It is now focusing its efforts on addressing digital poverty in disadvantaged communities with its Digital Divide Collective initiative, helping to enable people in the region to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
In 2019, as Sarah took on the role of Programme Director for the Bath Future Talent Programme, a leadership development programme for local leaders, she found herself grappling with the question of how participants could develop their leadership skills while also contributing to their communities. In seeking an answer, Sarah and the two other voluntary directors – Fiona Dawson, Director at health tech firm Mayden, and Steve Fuller, co-founder of branding agency The House together with Annie Legge, Co-Founder of Tech4Good South-West – discovered a significant gap: digital poverty. Many people in Bath’s most disadvantaged areas lack the necessary devices, infrastructure, and skills to engage with the digital world, leaving them isolated from services and opportunities.
“Digital exclusion affects people across all walks of life,” says Sarah, “and we thought it would be a great challenge for our Future Talent cohort to explore how we could address this issue in a meaningful way.”
The project quickly expanded. In collaboration with local partners such as Julian House’s Refugee Service and DHI’s Project 28, Bath Bridge started working to bridge the digital divide for socially excluded groups. The initiative was launched by Bath Bridge and Tech4Good South-West as the Digital Divide Collective at the Bath Digital Festival in 2022. It was supported by Bath MP Wera Hobhouse, who highlighted just how pervasive the digital divide is in our communities.
For many in Bath, especially in the most deprived areas like Twerton West, Whiteway and Southside, digital exclusion is a harsh reality. With large portions of these communities living in poverty, facing issues such as food insecurity, mental health struggles, and domestic abuse, the lack of access to technology compounds their difficulties. According to statistics from the Digital Poverty Alliance, one in five children lacked proper devices for homeschooling during the pandemic, while 53% of offline individuals cannot afford broadband.
Local charities such as the Southside Family Project and Age UK B&NES are seeing the detrimental effects of digital exclusion firsthand. “In some of the most vulnerable communities, people are simply unable to access the services they need – whether it’s applying for jobs, getting health advice, or ordering food,”
Sarah notes. “The problem isn’t just the lack of infrastructure or devices; it’s the skills gap too.”
To combat this, the Digital Divide Collective brings together a range of partners, including Mayden, St John’s Foundation and the British Computer Society, to work on long-term solutions. The Collective has now expanded its monthly meetings to include anyone who wants to contribute, offering a collaborative space for individuals and organisations to discuss digital inclusion efforts.
“Our vision is to create and run a Digital Playground – an interactive, inspiring space designed to spark curiosity, encourage play, and build digital skills”, Sarah says. “It’s all about making digital skills accessible and fun. Whether people are exploring a new device, learning how to access essential services, or developing their skills to secure a job, we want to create an environment where people feel supported and confident.”
Our vision is to create and run a Digital Playground – an interactive, inspiring space designed to spark curiosity, encourage play, and build digital skills
The vision is pioneering, and Sarah is optimistic about its potential. “We know this is an ambitious aspiration and recognise that it’s very early days, but starting somewhere and beginning to raise awareness of the scale of this challenge has to be a positive step.”
To achieve these goals, Bath Bridge and the Digital Divide Collective are actively seeking support from the local business community. Many companies are already committed to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives and employee volunteer programmes. Sarah says that these businesses can make a significant impact by donating obsolete devices, offering volunteer hours, or providing digital training.
The Collective needs more resources – both financial and human – to keep moving forward. “We’ve recently secured a small amount of funding from the Good Things Foundation, which has allowed us to appoint Alastair Rzeznicki as a part-time coordinator, but there’s so much more we need to do. We’re looking for businesses that can contribute volunteering hours, digital training and skills support, unused devices, as well as financial sponsorship. Every little bit helps.”
For individuals interested in supporting the cause, there are several ways to get involved. Volunteering to assist local residents with their digital skills or donating unused laptops can make a significant difference. Bath Bridge has already received donations through a tech bank set up during last year’s Digital Festival, allowing the distribution of 30 devices loaded with essential software, and Sarah is keen to expand this effort. “We’ve collaborated with Jangala, a charity that helps provide free internet access, who have given us some free SIM cards. But it’s not just about handing out tech – it’s about equipping people with the skills to use these tools.” So this is a multi-faceted challenge – with a focus on addressing the lack of technical infrastructure, building digital skills and knowledge, and developing soft skills such as self-confidence.
Engaging with communities in need is one of the Collective’s most sensitive tasks. “We are aware that we can’t ever know or understand first hand the challenges they face, so it’s essential that we partner with local organisations that already have the trust of these communities,” Sarah explains. “By working with groups like the Southside Family Project, Age UK BaNES, Bath City FC Foundation, Twerton Infants School, and the Twerton & Whiteway Community Network, we can ensure that we’re addressing real needs and providing support that makes a difference.”
Looking to the future, the Collective are planning a pilot project in Twerton, in partnership with Bath City FC Foundation’s Reconnecting Twerton initiative. The project will help people in these communities engage with the Learn My Way app, a digital tool designed to build basic digital skills. “We hope this will be just the beginning of a much broader effort to tackle digital exclusion,” Sarah says. “The key challenge for us now is to secure more funding and resources. We need to build a team of volunteers and partners who can help us make this vision a reality.”
For Sarah, the Digital Divide Collective represents an essential step towards a more inclusive and equitable future for Bath. “Sometimes the people most in need are those least able to seek out where the most appropriate and useful support is available. We are working to offer people ways of finding digital solutions to some of the challenges they face in their daily lives. ”
To learn more or to get involved, contact the Digital Divide Collective at hello@bathbridge.co.uk.