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. It is expected that the full framework will be available to the sector by the end of 2024.
The initiative also feeds into the Digital Poverty Alliance National Delivery Plan, which has shown core needs around raising public awareness about the importance of digital skills, and the range of support that is available. CAST took part in three board meetings and two round tables as part of the Digital Poverty Alliance Community Board - and we are now part of the National Delivery Committee.
As part of this work, CAST was invited to contribute to the work of FutureDotNow; during the reporting period, we contributed to - and co-signed - the new Workforce Digital Skills charter, a rallying cry for concerted and focused action to close the essential digital skills gap in the UK workforce.