Digital Cheshire

Get equipped with the tools and insights to strengthen your business in today’s digital landscape. 📅 26th March 2025� 📍 The Holiday Inn, Wood Ln, Beechwood, Runcorn, WA7 3HA Start your morning with refreshments and networking before diving into expert-led workshops. Join us as we deliver our second fully-funded interactive, all-day workshop for a day filled with valuable insights and practical strategies to help your business thrive in an ever-changing world. Get hands-on with local support services with Halton Borough Council, and Halton Chamber of Commerce and gain insight to stay digital resilience online with the North West Cyber Resilience Centre. We look forward to seeing you there. https://lnkd.in/ePieEhdr

Is faster broadband available in your area? Here's what you need to know! How to check availability: Visit the Digital Cheshire website's online checkers or contact our team directly. Important reminder: Faster broadband won't happen automatically! You need to contact your ISP and upgrade to a faster broadband package – this is really key as surprisingly lots of people don’t realise it’s available! Will my current provider affect my options? Regardless of who provides your current broadband, we can explore faster options for you. If you have any questions or need further advice on your situation, get in touch with the Digital Cheshire team. We're here to help you get better connected. https://lnkd.in/dmeuKBG9

Did someone say free data? The National Databank is often comparable to food banks, but for internet data. This is accessible through The Good Things Foundation and supported by leading internet and mobile service providers. Community organisations can apply to access the databank on behalf of their communities who may benefit from it. According to Good Things Foundation, Vodafone and Three pledged to support the National Databank in 2022, expanding their reach from 34 hubs to hundreds. In just one year this grew to over 1,000 Digital Inclusion Hubs providing free mobile data to people in their communities, and the demand for support is still increasing. Virgin Media O2 are also supporting the national databank. Chester and Ellesmere Port are two of their current stores in Cheshire which provide access to free data via this scheme, in addition to the Warrington O2 store. Simply head into your local O2 store and enquire about the free data scheme https://lnkd.in/eFpeim5N someone say free data? The National Databank is often comparable to food banks, but for internet data. This is accessible through The Good Things Foundation and supported by leading internet and mobile service providers. Community organisations can apply to access the databank on behalf of their communities who may benefit from it. According to Good Things Foundation, Vodafone and Three pledged to support the National Databank in 2022, expanding their reach from 34 hubs to hundreds. In just one year this grew to over 1,000 Digital Inclusion Hubs providing free mobile data to people in their communities, and the demand for support is still increasing. Virgin Media O2 are also supporting the national databank. Chester and Ellesmere Port are two of their current stores in Cheshire which provide access to free data via this scheme, in addition to the Warrington O2 store. Simply head into your local O2 store and enquire about the free data scheme https://lnkd.in/e8PwPa5s

Have you heard about the Digital Switchover? You might be wondering, what does this mean? Well, any copper based landlines are being transitioned to digital telephone systems using fibre connectivity, through new initiatives. This is scheduled to be complete by January 2027 nationally, however some providers are accelerating the transition to begin from the end of 2025. You don't need to worry about anything when it comes to setup - the transition should be a seamless process managed and supported by your telecoms provider. Your internet service provider will let you know if you are required to install new equipment such as phone or routers in your property. At Digital Cheshire, we're here to offer advice and support throughout this process. Contact our team if you have any questions https://lnkd.in/dmeuKBG9

Big news for digital inclusion! 📢 Today, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology launches their Digital Inclusion Action Plan, firmly placing the issue on the national agenda. Announcing five key actions, this plan marks a crucial recognition from the heart of Government that urgent, coordinated action is needed to help millions overcome barriers to good work, better health, and greater opportunities. Collaboration across sectors is key to ensuring no one is left behind in our increasingly digital world - building on the work we do with our strategic partners Virgin Media O2, Vodafone, Nominet and Accenture and community partners in the National Digital Inclusion Network. Let’s work together to #FixTheDigitalDivide - for good! Find out more about the news at: https://lnkd.in/gmhXGdZY

Exciting day today kicking off our Digital Inclusion project for Digital Cheshire working with the team at Thrive - The Brand + Demand Agency and our new starter on the team, Jess Barlow. What’s felt like a long time exploring and researching the importance of inclusion when delivering connectivity deployment projects; it’s pleasing to get to this stage of project inception. The project will enable us to support residents directly with access and education around digital subject matters across rural Cheshire, Halton and Warrington including the landline switchover, health and public services online. Often core services people rely on expect users to jump online and access everything via email, websites and apps, however this is a struggle for lots of people and we’re pleased to be able to support more residents with hands on interventions. It’s great to see government today launch their Digital Inclusion Action Plan, a much needed step in the right direction. More info to come over the coming weeks and events dropping soon!👍 #DigitalInclusion

Check your broadband! Whether you're a resident or a business, you can use online checkers to see whether you can access ultrafast broadband, or if your area is included in the planned delivery. If you discover you are not included in any current delivery plans, get in touch as we can still potentially support you.  Check here https://lnkd.in/eKis5t_R 

Slow broadband connection doesn't just impact the local businesses, it also impacts residents just like you. We spoke to Michelle Minshall from Natwich about how the broadband upgrades to her local fibre network has changed her home-life. "It was incredibly difficult to function as a family of 5 with such poor broadband speeds. I do work from home occasionally and it was nigh on impossible at certain times of the day to make the online submissions I needed to make. In school holidays, I would have to ask my children to take it in turns to stream / use games consoles as all 3 could not do it at once. I could never work from home in school holidays as I could not access anything if the children were all doing the same. We now have between 500 & 900mbps download & between 100 & 200mbps upload. I’m not exaggerating to say this has been life changing for us as a family.” Experiencing the same issues? Head over to https://lnkd.in/eKis5t_R or send an email to [email protected] to see how we can help you.

Which of these is the most important part of having improved connectivity? Whatever it is, we're here to help you with ultrafast broadband! Get in touch with the team and we'll point you in the right direction of support. https://lnkd.in/ewMWgtw9 Anything else? Let us know in the comments!

There are some things we take for granted that can become very difficult to achieve when our connectivity is poor. Things such as appointment bookings, repeat prescription access, educational resources, online documentation signatures and online banking should be accessible to all, but sadly that isn't the case. It shows the need for improved data is higher than ever before! As we head more and more into a digital world, vital services such as those listed above are transitioning to online methods. So how can we support you in getting online? Get in touch with the team and let us know if you have any issues getting online https://lnkd.in/eKis5t_R