Linda Bigham has highlighted a national award for Coventry City Council’s #CovConnects digital-inclusion programme.
The scheme won the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy of the Year category at the Women in Green Business Awards on 7 October. The council announced the result on 9 October.
#CovConnects works with businesses, public services and voluntary organisations to refurbish laptops, tablets and phones and distribute them through community partners. Those partners include Virgin Media O2, the University of Warwick and NHS organisations.
The programme has supported groups including families and survivors of domestic abuse. It combines access to equipment with help for residents who lack the skills or confidence to use digital services.
Council figures say six in ten Coventry residents either lack access to a laptop or desktop computer or rely only on a smartphone, while around 14,000 people are completely offline.
Bigham is the Labour councillor for Longford and cabinet member for adult services, whose portfolio includes digital exclusion. Labour leads a minority administration on Coventry City Council.
