Society helps The Musketeers fight digital poverty

The Musketeers CIC reached out to the Community Support Scheme for a £500 donation to boost their bid to make online education available to all families in the local area.

Based in Kirkby in Ashfield, The Musketeers is an organisation committed to championing community focused projects and linking them with local businesses in hope of gaining wider audience participation for charitable causes locally.

Working in partnership with Vision West Notts College, students are refurbishing second hand IT equipment for The Musketeers to distribute to the network of schools in the area. The Mansfield’s donation bolsters this work by enabling them to also purchase, and donate, new equipment – allowing access to online education for children, connection to the wider digital world for adults and providing an option for sourcing online income streams.

Gary Jordan, Co-Founder of The Musketeers CIC, commented:

“Local Facts 2020 stated that 27% of Mansfield and Ashfield people had no access to computers or tablets and 30% have no digital skills at all. In a time when home education and working is at an all-time high, as a result of the pandemic, and hybrid working is increasingly becoming standard practice for companies – those in digital poverty are cut off from those opportunities and we are striving to change that.”

Louise Holland, presenting the cheque on behalf of the Society, explained:

“I think it is an assumption of most that laptops, tablets and smart phones are a staple of all households for both children and adults, but the pandemic highlighted that this simply isn’t the case.

“Making sure children have access to home school resources was a huge concern for parents and schools, including many of our colleagues. We are thrilled to support the work The Musketeers are doing to increase digital opportunities to the communities in our heartland area.”

You can learn more about the work of The Musketeers CIC on their Facebook page @TheMusketeersCIC

If you are a local charity or organisation looking for project funding and would like more information on our Community Support Scheme, please visit mansfieldbs.co.uk/community-support-scheme.