The Nominet Trust, the UK’s leading social tech funder, has awarded almost £100,000 to a Welsh partnership which includes Llamau.

The partnership, which comprises Llamau, the Wales Co-operative Centre, YMCA Swansea and GISDA, has received the money from the trust as part of Nominet’s “Digital Reach” programme – a pioneering initiative developed to increase digital skills amongst some of the UK’s most disadvantaged young people.

The funding will be used to deliver My Digital Life, a project which will support some of the most disadvantaged and “hard-to-reach” young people across Wales. It will work alongside them to improve their digital skills, confidence and self-esteem, using approaches that chime with their interests and needs.

The 2017 Basic Digital Skills report suggests that despite an overall increase in the number of UK adults who have gained basic digital skills, at least 3% (300,000) of those aged 15-24 are still being left behind. Nominet Trust’s research indicates that it is this group that is the most likely to be facing multiple forms of disadvantage. Digital Reach has been created in response to this national challenge by reimagining digital skills delivery to the hardest to reach young people in our society.

By harnessing the expertise of the partnership, which has longstanding and trusted relationships with the most marginalised young people in Wales, Digital Reach intends to demonstrate how these organisations are perfectly placed to steer isolated young people towards positive futures.

Nominet Trust’s funding will enable Llamau, the Wales Co-operative Centre, YMCA Swansea and GISDA to co-design and co-deliver sessions for small groups of young people which will help them develop digital skills beyond basic use of social media. Sessions could help young people to manage their money, search and apply for training and jobs, and life healthier lives.

Vicki Hearn, Director of the Nominet Trust, said: “Nominet Trust is delighted to be supporting this joint initiative involving Llamau. Digital Reach funding will enable the partnership to reach out to 375 of the hardest to reach young people across Wales, offering the opportunity to gain crucial digital skills as an integral part of their life skills programmes. We believe this pilot will demonstrate the potential of this approach to achieve impact at scale.”