I’ve never been one for relying on technology. I have very little confidence and get so stressed whenever I have to do anything that relies on me using the internet. I have a few learning difficulties and suffer quite badly with my mental health. The world is moving far too Read more…
My name is Phil Parkes, and I am the Network Coordinator at Expert Citizens. I am also a member of the APLE Collective where I take part in the campaigns group activities. For those who don’t know, Expert Citizens (EC) are a lived experience organisation who advocate for people with Read more…
The APLE Collective have partnered with Just Fair UK on a blog post, reflecting on digital choice and opportunity and how people are being disproportionately impacted by the increasing use of technology. “The digital divide obstructs people’s ability to access services, connect with others and realise their full potential. Online learning has increased significantly during this Read more…
APLE Collective member organisation Community Organisers have released an article on how the pandemic has exacerbated the Digital Divide and how they are trying to respond. ” The digital divide has been exacerbated by the pandemic creating digital haves and digital have-nots leaving millions of people disconnected from society — Read more…
I was asked to write about my thoughts on digital exclusion and you would think I would immediately think of all the lockdown stuff and how so many people are being left out of this whole ‘new normal’ world. Instead my first thoughts were more aligned to how much this Read more…
Under lockdown, most people are using the internet more than ever before. For those who cannot afford the devices and wifi that could connect them, the digital divide feels wider than ever. The BBC notes that only 47 per cent of people on a low income have broadband internet at Read more…
In this digital age we now live in the world seems so much smaller and accessible than ever before, but only for some. For those not riding high on the wave of new technology, the digital divide is an ever-growing expanse of exclusion, isolation and despair. Coronavirus has taken Read more…
Charities warn of ‘devastating effect’ as most vulnerable households left without access to web. The APLE Collective has been quoted in a piece in The Guardian on the ‘Digital Divide’ and the affect it’s having on low income communities. From the article, Yet anti-poverty groups such as the Aple Collective, a network Read more…
The APLE Collective have an article featured on the SW2020-COVID19 website, “For the APLE (Addressing Poverty with Lived Experience) Collective, digital exclusion means exclusion from voice, from an ability to participate in the everyday, it means being silenced. It means our knowledge is ignored which exacerbates economic and social divides, Read more…
The daily realities of the digital divide in the North East of England – a call to connect our community members ‘As an organisation that responds to the needs in our low income communities by, in the first instance, developing trusting relationships with people who live in very difficult circumstances, Read more…