Cheshire based social enterprise The Digital Life Skills Company benefits from Co-operative Bank Customer Donation Fund

Cheshire based social enterprise The Digital Life Skills Company has received a cash donation from The Co-operative Bank that will enable them to continue their important work in the community following the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The fund is open to organisations that are Co-operative Bank customers and hold a Community Directplus account – this account is specifically for charities, co-operatives and credit unions. Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly on charitable organisations and community groups, the decision was made to support all of the organisations who applied for grants from the Customer Donation Fund during this extremely challenging time. 55 organisations applied for grants in the months leading up to March 2020 and total payments to the 55 customers was over £50,000.

Among those who have benefited from the fund are Cheshire based The Digital Life Skills Company, a social enterprise on a mission to help children and young people thrive in a digital world by giving them - and their parents and teachers - the skills to make sense of online information and avoid being misled. The organisation teaches young people how to seek out useful advice and support when they need it and the skills to find positive opportunities. They equip them to recognise and avoid misinformation, conspiracies, hoaxes and hateful content. The charity has used the funding to explore ways to deliver Digital Skills online, with face-to-face workshops being paused as a result of COVID-19.

Commenting on the fund Shelley Metcalfe, Co-founder and Director at The Digital Skills Company said:

“Our face-to-face workshops for children and for parents are paused during lockdown, so we’re using the opportunity and funding from The Co-operative Bank Customer Donation Fund to explore ways to deliver Digital Life Skills online, so we can reach more children and young people, more quickly.”

Andrew Bester, Chief Executive of The Co-operative Bank said;

“Supporting our customers, particularly smaller charities and community projects during this challenging time is really important to us. These organisations play a vital role in their local area and make a big difference to their local communities and the people that live in them.

“I am delighted we have been able to provide grants to all of the 55 projects that applied for funding, enabling them to continue to make their contribution to the community through this pandemic.  The projects that we have supported are located across the UK and are playing a key role in their communities at a time when their contribution is much needed.”

Thanks to Fiona Bailey for the picture.