Sports.connected is part of Vodafone’s everyone.connected campaign to help four million people cross the digital divide before the end of 2025.
- Over 200 community sports clubs to benefit from digital skills training, connectivity and grants, providing opportunities for 12,000 young people in the UK as part of Vodafone’s everyone.connected campaign.
- Digital divide: 49% of Sported’s groups are in the UK’s most deprived areas and 66% of grassroots clubs don’t consider themselves to be well-connected.
Vodafone has announced the launch of sports.connected, a new partnership with Sported, a UK-wide charity using grassroots sport and physical activity in our communities to have a positive impact on young people. The partnership will see the business offer free connectivity, digital skills training and a grant-giving scheme to support the vital work undertaken by community groups in engaging young people, tackling inequality and boosting health and wellbeing through sport.
Sports.connected is part of Vodafone’s everyone.connected campaign, which is committed to helping four million people cross the digital divide before the end of 2025, giving them the connectivity and skills they need to stay connected and participate fully in an increasingly digital society.
During the first year of the partnership, Vodafone has pledged to help over 200 of Sported’s community groups provide opportunities to over 12,000 young people. Vodafone will offer access to connectivity in the form of SIM cards and devices and will be co-creating a bespoke digital business skills platform through its V-Hub. It will have webinars, toolkits and training to help clubs raise more funding and engage more young people in sport. The training will be created with the needs of each club taken into consideration.
In addition, Vodafone will also be setting up a grant scheme, which clubs can use to help purchase kit and put on more sports and activities for those within their community.
New research from Sported highlighted just how vital better connectivity and digital skills are to the success of their community groups. 66% of the groups don’t consider themselves to be well-connected and 88% believe digital skills support would be valuable. A further 71% added that a six-month SIM plan would be beneficial to their members.
With 49% of Sported’s 3,023 groups based in the most deprived areas of the UK, many of these groups play an essential role in helping young people from their communities overcome barriers and reach their full potential. The partnership with Vodafone will help clubs run more effectively and drive participation in sports for young people in these areas.
