Nottinghamshire County Council is calling on residents to become a Digital Champion in 2016 and help other people in their community to get the most out of life online.

Across the UK an estimated 5.8 million adults have never used the internet, with 5.2 million of those aged over 55 years¹. Around 1 in 5 (12.6 million) don’t have basic digital skills² meaning they can’t send an email or search the web.

In South Nottinghamshire 31,000 people have rarely or never used the internet, which is equivalent to one in nine local residents and in North Nottinghamshire it’s 53,000 – equivalent to one in seven local residents.

Being digitally excluded means people are missing out on the significant individual, social, economic and health related benefits of being online such as saving money, being in touch with friends and family, applying for jobs and feeling part of modern society.

In May last year the County Council launched the Nottinghamshire Digital Champions Network (NDCN) as part of the Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire Programme. The aim of the NDCN is to create and support a team of Digital Champions who can help residents and businesses get the most out of life online.

So far over 50 volunteers have got involved to help others.

Councillor Diana Meale, Chair of Economic Development at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “A New Year’s Resolution is about making a promise to yourself to start doing something good and by becoming a Nottinghamshire Digital Champion can make a real difference to local people. Quite simply, if you’re not online it means you have less and diminishing access to public and commercial services, to information and advice and to social interaction.

“With more and more homes and businesses in Nottinghamshire being able to access good broadband speeds than ever before, we’re calling on local Digital Champions to help those who don’t have digital skills so that everyone in the county can take advantage of the fantastic opportunities the internet provides.”

For more information about the scheme and how to get involved visit www.digitalchampionsnetwork/nottinghamshire or email [email protected]