Digital Poverty Alliance charity expands free laptops to all young carers in Cambridgeshire

The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) is expanding its Tech4Young Carers Scheme to all of Cambridgeshire to provide free laptops to young people with full-time caregiving responsibilities and remove significant barriers to education.

The scheme is expanding to include the rest of Cambridgeshire, including Cambridge and Peterborough, where previously it provided support to young carers in Fenland, Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire.

Tech4Young Carers provides digital access to young carers between the ages of 14-25 who provide unpaid care for a family member or close friend dealing with a long-term or terminal illness, disability, mental health condition, age-related frailty or struggles with addiction.

Pippa Heylings, MP for South Cambridgeshire, recognised the importance of expanding the programme, said: “Young carers dedicate themselves to supporting their loved ones, yet too often they face barriers that restrict their own opportunities. In today’s digital-first world, having a laptop is not a luxury – it is a necessity for education, employment, and staying connected. Expanding the Tech4YoungCarers programme across Cambridgeshire ensures that these young people are not left behind. I commend the Digital Poverty Alliance, Centre 33, and Cambridgeshire County Council for their leadership in improving digital access, and I encourage businesses and organisations to support this initiative. Together, we can provide young carers with the resources they need to succeed.”

Funded by E2BN and in partnership with Centre 33 and Cambridgeshire County Council, the DPA is working to address the issue of digital poverty amongst young carers by providing devices, connectivity and skills workshops specifically tailored to the needs of young carers.

John Chapman, Director of E2BN, said: “We are delighted that this programme, aimed to empower young carers, can now support young carers and their families across the whole of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Technology is integral to engagement with society and services, as well as enabling more online connections and leisure. This programme provides laptops, skills and connectivity to young carers, who otherwise can easily feel isolated and under pressure. Empowering these people with the tools and skills to engage with the world as and when they need to is essential to ensure they can succeed in the future.”

There are 4,984 young carers in Cambridgeshire and this figure only encapsulates those up to age 18, meaning there are many more unaccounted for all disproportionately likely to be living in digital poverty. With less access to laptops and devices, young carers often face significant barriers to education due to either a lack of device, lack of connectivity or digital literacy.

Their caring responsibilities tend to raise unique challenges to digital exclusion and by providing them with the devices, connectivity and training they need, opportunities for growth and development become far more accessible.

Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance said: “Our Tech4Young Carers initiative in Cambridgeshire has already been a huge success. By providing a laptop for each young carer to keep, these caregivers are able to access essential digital services and stay more connected than before. Expanding to Cambridge and Peterborough was a natural step for the initiative, helping even more people as more and more services move online.

Though we’ve made fantastic progress towards tackling digital poverty, our work has only just begun. The expansion of this initiative aligns with the UK Government’s Digital Inclusion Action Strategy, and we now have an incredible opportunity to catapult off this and make a tremendous impact with the help of the private sector.

If you don’t have a laptop, you can get left behind, and this initiative will provide free laptops to those caregivers that are without so they can get the support they need to stay online.”

The expansion to cover the entirety of Cambridgeshire is critical to the Tech4Young Carers agenda as 1.85 per cent of all pupils in the area are identified as young carers. Nationally, nearly 140,000 of those under 24 acting as young carers, with more than 71,000 of 18–24-year-olds providing between 20-49 hours of unpaid care per week.