UK grant database - new COVID-19 grants tab, Launch of The Planner, DevicesDotNow blog and more

Online Centres Members' News

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Thursday 30 April 2020

Hello <<First Name>>

Earlier this week, the Department for Education announced a new Skills Toolkit which aims to support furloughed workers to boost their skills and offer free online courses on literacy, numeracy and digital skills. Good Things Foundation is delighted to be helping the nation learn and gain confidence through our free Learn My Way online courses and Make It Click directory included as part of the new Skills Toolkit.

As mentioned in last week's newsletter, we’ve decided to temporarily change our find a centre map so that people can see if your organisation is active during this difficult time. If you are still offering support to people in your community, we’d like to hear from you so that we can make sure you feature on the public facing map. You can review or change your centre's information at any time by logging into the Online Centres Network website.

It’s great to see so many of you sharing your pictures of learners receiving devices as part of DevicesDotNow. Supporting digital inclusion is at the heart of what Good Things Foundation does and we’re proud to be working with FutureDotNow on this initiative. If you would like to find out more about the project or request a device, you can visit our website.

If you’re looking for more support, as you adjust to the current situation, there are lots of useful links on our resources page which is updated daily. You can find lots of information around running your organisation online, helping your learners, managing your health and wellbeing and funding opportunities.

Best wishes
Helen Milner and the Good Things Foundation team

View the Skills Toolkit

COMMUNITY CHAMPION STAYS SOCIAL THROUGHOUT SOCIAL DISTANCING

DevicesDotNow is supporting thousands of people across the UK to stay in touch with others and find relevant information online. Ron was identified to receive support through the scheme to help him keep in touch with family and to continue to do the things he loves.

“Before the current pandemic, Ron was an extremely social person. Going out on a weekly basis to do his shopping, picking up his prescriptions, visiting the library to do research or use the PC, helping other vulnerable neighbours with their gardening, basic home repairs and their own shopping. The term 'Community Champion' truly refers to Ron. He is always trying to help others in the community and around his local area.” say Vick Virdee from Online Centre ACDA Training.

Read Ron’s story here.

UK grant database - new COVID-19 grants tab

In January, we launched the Good Things Foundation UK grant database, in response to demand from Online Centres for more support with finding funding. The database holds collective information from trusts and foundations which your centre may be able to apply for. We’ve recently updated the database with lots of new funding opportunities and have added a COVID-19 specific grants tab so you can find related support if your organisation has been impacted by the outbreak. We’ve also split opportunities so you can search by UK nation, to make it easier to find opportunities closer to home.

You’ll find all the information needed to use this resource effectively on the first tab of the spreadsheet. We’ve tried to make this as user-friendly as possible, allowing you to filter by country, funding category and value. If you’ve got any suggestions please email hello@goodthingsfoundation.org.

View the funding database

Congratulations to our centre of the month, Lincs Training. Rich and Ann Avison from the centre are working extremely hard in their community by collecting old mobile phones and distributing these to vulnerable individuals. As well as collecting food parcels, they are helping those who are isolated by supporting them with their everyday needs. Fantastic work and well done, we’ll be sending them an Amazon voucher for the centre to say thank you for all their hard work.

EXPLORING LINKS BETWEEN OUR NETWORK AND EMPLOYERS

As an organisation, we are continually looking to better understand how we can support Centres and their wider operations. There is an increasing awareness that many Centres are either working directly with local businesses or organisations to help provide training to a range of employees. Now, at a time of reflection for us at Good Things Foundation, we are keen to understand the extent of these partnerships between Centres and employers as well as the potential interest in Centres looking to build these partnerships in the future. We are asking centres to complete a short survey to gather this insight.

Launch of The Planner

The Planner is a new tool that will soon be integrated into Learn My Way. It is intended to guide entry level learners in deciding where to start their digital education. It is not an initial assessment as it does not test learners. Instead learners are asked 13 questions about their confidence, interest and level of experience with digital skills. The responses given are used to create a personalised list of suggested courses.

The Planner is mapped against the Essential Digital Skills Framework. Between 1 and 5 courses are suggested to learners as a result of their responses. All suggestions are within the Learn My Way content, with the exception of recommendations to “Make It Click”- a resource for people who are above entry level.

How do my learners access The Planner?
Learners will need to register or log into Learn My Way. They will need to have a centre code registered against their log in before they can use The Planner. In this current version, a learner can only complete it once. Personalised suggestions will remain available for them to see on return to The Planner page.

Useful documents- Launch pack

The Planner User Guide - Learners
The Planner User Guide - Tutors
Delivery Guide - Using The Planner
The Planner Statements

Visit The Planner

WALES TABLET LENDING SCHEME ACROSS HEALTHCARE SETTINGS

Digital Communities Wales have recently launched a tablet lending scheme to provide 1000 devices to individuals in healthcare settings, to enable the expansion of digital health services across Wales. Since the outbreak of coronavirus the devices have never been more in need, helping individuals contact their GP virtually, thanks to funding from the Welsh Government and with the help of Wales Co-op. The devices will be sent out to care homes, hospices and wards in the coming weeks. You can find out more about the scheme by visiting the website.

JOIN OUR ONLINE CENTRES FACEBOOK GROUP

Did you know that we have a Facebook group exclusively for members of our Network? Our closed Facebook group is great for sharing information and resources with other online centres. You can also ask for advice and solutions to shared issues you may be experiencing. If you’ve not yet joined our group and wish to do so, just visit this page.

All contacts in the Online Centres Network agree to receive the weekly newsletters when they sign up to join the network but if you think you shouldn't have received this email, then please let us know at hello@goodthingsfoundation.org or unsubscribe below.