Digital Foundations equips charity staff with the basic digital skills and confidence they need to better support the individuals and communities they serve.
A central component of this initiative has been testing essential skills resources developed as part of the Digital Skills Framework created in partnership with Scouts. This framework has been set up to provide support and resources for volunteers who want to develop skills and confidence in completing digital tasks. So far, the framework has been tested by 14 organisations, and we have made amendments based on the feedback received.
The initiative also feeds into the work of the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA), which has shown core needs around raising public awareness about the importance of digital skills. CAST was an active member of the DPA's National Delivery Committee for two years. Our involvement allowed us to collaborate with a wide range of partners and share insights from our work with civil society organisations to inform policy and practice. Our participation in the committee continued until December 2024, when the DPA undertook a strategic review of its governance and engagement structures. As part of this review, the National Delivery Committee was disbanded to make way for a new phase of activity and stakeholder engagement. CAST remains committed to supporting efforts to eliminate digital poverty and will continue to engage with the DPA and other sector partners in future initiatives, including contributing to its new Charity Network.
As part of our work with the DPA, we were invited to contribute to the work of FutureDotNow. We contributed to - and co-signed - the Workforce Digital Skills charter, a rallying cry for concerted and focused action to close the essential digital skills gap in the UK workforce.