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Challenges for projects in rural areas

• Broadband issues
• Size of area
• Cost
• Lack of existing Digital Skills training
• Limited employment
• General challenges

Broadband issues
– Lower broadband speeds
– Poor connectivity
Size of area
– Identification of learners is harder to achieve
– Reach out to learners is harder
– Lack of public transport
– Getting community involvement to achieve a sustainable model
– Smaller number of learners spread over a wider area
Cost
– Costs of providing support are more expensive
– Cost of (public) transport
– Cost of training venues
Lack of existing Digital Skills training
– Lack of access to training opportunities
– Many work from home, decreasing access to work-based training
– Lower motivation of learners/ no culture towards digital
Limited employment
– Limited employment opportunities 
– More low skill, low pay jobs 
– Many work in micro-enterprises, with reduced access to digital skills training
General challenges
– Availability of training venues, with suitable facilities
– Poverty, age, health, costs of getting online in rural areas can have more impact because of isolation
– Poorer health – linked to deprivation in rural areas – amplified by lack of physical & digital access to health services

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Solutions we have found for working in rural areas

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“Trusted people, trusted places, trusted relationships, trusted partnerships”  

Rich Denyer-Bewick, Citizens Online, commenting on the key themes of digital inclusion in rural communities

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Resources

• A guide to setting up and running a rural digital hub by the CORA Project (Connecting Remote Areas with digital infrastructure and services) and the University of Lincoln
• Digital Venue Toolkit – a guide to getting your village or community venue online by Digital Neighbourhoods Research Project, Plymouth University
• CORA Digital Hub Guide – An operational guide to setting up and running a Digital Hub
• Find broadband packages available by postcode at Think Broadband, the UK’s largest independent broadband information site
• Test the broadband speed by providers at particular postcodes at Think Broadband

• Unlocking the digital potential of rural areas across the UK by Rural England and Scotland’s Rural College
• Health and wellbeing in rural areas by the Local Government Association in partnership with Public Health England
• Steps towards a digital rural region case study by The European Network for Rural Development 
• Solving Britain’s “rural vs urban” broadband connectivity divide article by Open Access Government
• Digital Gwynedd blog post about Citizens Online’s digital work in rural Wales
• Case study on a professional Digital Champion in rural Gwynedd by Citizens Online
• Rural population and migration statistics by UK Government
• Rural Scotland key facts by Scottish Government
• Rural Poverty in Wales: Existing Research and Evidence Gaps by Public Policy Institute for Wales

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We also held an event on sharing best practice about Developing digital skills in rural communities

• Researching Digital Inclusion – a multi-layered approach keynote presentation by Sharon Wagg, PhD researcher, Loughborough University
• Working with older people in rural areas workshop & presentation by Age UK South Lakes & Age UK Chorley Click & Chat
• Access to Digital Health Services – Empowering People with Digital Health Skills by Healthier Lancashire & South Cumbria
• Digital Champions in rural communities : Gwynedd & Highlands workshop & presentation by Citizens Online
• Developing digital enterprise hubs in rural areas workshop & presentation by CORA project, University of Lincoln and A1 Community (North Allerton)
• The role of libraries & community spaces in supporting digital learning in rural areas presentation by Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface and workshop session plan by Lancashire Libraries Service, Clackmannanshire Third Sector Interface and the One Digital Community of Practice
• Lancashire Connectivity and Rurality workshop presentation by Superfast Lancashire
• Developing Digital Skills in Rural Communities – barriers to learning and delivery challenges workshop presentation by Community Futures
• Providing broadband for rural UK – deployment and aftercare workshop presentation by B4RN
• Developing digital skills in rural communities – summary of the event including solutions and top tips – by Kate Gallant (One Digital) and Alison Masheder (Lancashire Adult Learning)
• Lancashire Digital Skills Partnership’s role and local digital priorities presentation by Kerry Harrison, Lancashire Digital Skills Partnership

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