Briefly describe the initiative/ project/service; please include your aims and objectives

Digi Dens is a community-driven digital inclusion initiative transforming Family Hubs into vibrant, tech-enabled spaces where families can gain digital confidence, access devices and connectivity and explore creative digital learning together Funded by GMCA’s Strengthening Communities programme, DigiDens is reshaping how public services meet digital needs by embedding inclusive, co-designed support directly within trusted and welcoming neighbourhood spaces.

The project began by listening deeply to residents. Through hands on workshops and surveys involving people aged 10–84, families told us they needed practical skills, safe spaces to learn, child-friendly digital activities, and better access to devices. Residents were clear about what matters, including a specific emphasis on online internet safety guidance, and support with educational apps for children. They also identified barriers holding them back from lack of digital skills to privacy concerns. Their insights shaped every part of Digi Dens.

The result of this is a model that responds directly to the digital barriers families face within the communities in which they live. What we aim to do: Transform public service delivery through innovative, citizen-led digital spaces – DigiDens aim to reimagine Family Hubs as places where digital support sits naturally alongside health, wellbeing, early years and community services. Providing an integrated model that places digital inclusion at the heart of everyday family life and early-help support.

Boost digital confidence for all ages – Help residents develop core digital skills including online safety, basic computer use, job-seeking tasks, and educational apps.

Improve access to devices, data and support – Equip each Family Hub with laptops, Wi-Fi, gaming kits, charging stations and digital support to remove cost and skills barriers that many families cited during consultation.

Strengthen community belonging and reduce isolation -: create warm, safe and fun spaces for families to learn and play together, helping build confidence, social connections and trust in digital services.

Support pathways into learning, volunteering and employment -: Connect residents with TechMate volunteers, adult education courses and future employment opportunities to build long-term digital resilience within communities.

Embed sustainability and culture change: Train Family Hub staff as digital champions, establish governance and embed the DigiDens brand within the Family Hub strategy, ensuring long-term success and a clear identity.

Aligned with Wigan’s Progress with Unity Missions, DigiDens are designed to help shape a fairer, more inclusive and better[1]connected borough for local families. By removing digital barriers and opening new pathways to learning, confidence and community participation, the project supports a borough where everyone has the chance to thrive.

What are the key achievements?

DigiDens have rapidly evolved from a community-driven idea into a borough-wide digital inclusion offer that is transforming how families access skills, support and technology. The initiative has not only met its original aims, but surpassed them, demonstrating clear, measurable impact on residents, services and neighbourhoods.

Delivery & Reach (to Dec 2025)

7 Digi Dens provisions established across Wigan’s Family Hubs, creating warm, walkable and welcoming spaces for families.

35 sessions delivered in 2025, ranging from coding and online safety to TechTime on Tour, themed engagement events, volunteer-led digital support (TechMate Tea parties) ad-hoc support, and youth activities.

494 residents accessed digital support through Digi Dens activities and drop-ins.

305 attendees joined structured digital skills sessions.

293 participants attended launch events in Hindley, The Meadows and Formby Avenue, demonstrating strong early demand.

10 National Databank SIMs gifted to tackle data poverty and support essential connectivity.

5 governance meetings held to ensure sustained quality, learning and alignment across all Family Hubs

1 hub registered as a Code Club with the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

Programme Highlights

3 consultation workshops with 24 residents shaped the model from ground up.

2 digital safety sessions supported 51 parents and children to feel safer online

4 coding sessions engaged 20 learners, sparking curiosity and future-skills TechTime on Tour reached 46 attendees through mobile digital drop-ins.

3 public launches showcased the offer to nearly 300 residents

What We’ve Achieved:

DigiDens has created a step-change in digital inclusion, placing practical skills, devices and confidence-building activities in the heart of communities that have historically faced the greatest barriers.

For the first time, families in these neighbourhoods have free, walkable access to tech, including public wi-fi, gaming kits, Micro:bits, charging stations and flexible, family-friendly learning spaces.

This infrastructure allows residents to learn, create and connect without the cost or confidence barriers that previously held them back.

Digi Dens has also embedded structure support that mirrors residents’ real needs – from online-safety and job-seeking support to child-friendly coding sessions and intergenerational digital activities. Sessions have reduced isolation, strengthened community belonging, and provided safe spaces where families feel supported to ask questions and build skills at their own place.

The introduction of Databank gifting demonstrates practical action on data poverty helping residents stay connected for work, school and essential services, removing cost and confidence barriers and making digital inclusion part of everyday family life. Safety sessions and on-site guidance tackle the biggest concerns, while gaming, coding, and themed groups have brought people together and reduced isolation. Early SIM gifting shows we’re taking practical steps to make connectivity affordable.

Efficiency, value and smart Use of Resources:

We listened first, then spent wisely. Decisions about equipment, layout and session design was shaped by what residents told us they needed, ensuring every investment addressed a clearly identified need

By delivering the programme through existing Family Hubs, the project avoids duplicate infrastructure, keeps costs low and provides families with a ‘one-stop’ place for digital help alongside wider services.

A blended workforce model, combining training Family Hub staff, TechMate volunteers and the Digital Communities team strengthens delivery capacity while keeping the programme sustainable and resource efficient. This approach increases the number of touchpoints available for residents

Governance meetings have ensured consistent oversight, shared learning and strong alignment across all hubs, enabling a coordinated, high-quality borough-wide offer.

DigiDens has delivered far more than digital skills alone; it has contributed directly to Wigan Council’s Progress with Unity Missions, helping to build a fairer, more connected and opportunity rich borough. By embedding digital inclusion into trusted spaces, the initiative supports missions to:

strengthen communities

reduce inequalities

improve wellbeing

expand access to learning and skills

build confident, connected neighbourhoods

DigiDens is already demonstrating how digital inclusion can be woven into the fabric of everyday family life, transforming public service delivery while empowering residents of all ages to thrive in a digital world.

How Innovative is your initiative?

The Digi Dens approach is innovative because it starts not with assumptions, but with what local families said they needed – digital safety, practical skills, access to devices and data, and family-friendly opportunities to learn together. By basing the entire model on a structured, representative consultation across diverse cohorts, the design of each Digi Den rooted in lived experience rather than service-led expectations.

This flips the traditional model – spaces are rebuilt around residents’ needs, instead of residents being asked to fit into existing systems. Rather than offering a traditional ‘IT drop-in’, Digi Dens reimagines digital inclusion as a core component of family support. The model embeds digital help directly within the trusted Family Hub environments, integrating it into everyday challenges like completing online forms, managing appointments and accessing essential services and support groups, such as ESOL and SEND. It also extends to creative, learn through play, activities such as coding clubs and gaming sessions, making digital learning social, playful, and preventative, rather than crisis-driven or transactional whilst supporting community-building (ESOL/SEND groups).

This challenges the status quo by positioning digital inclusion not as an isolated service but as a part of a holistic family support ecosystem where families already trust and engage. We used consultation data to set a clear baseline of required kit (laptops, Wi-Fi access, secure storage, charging facilities, flexible seating/workspace), ensuring consistency and equity across hubs. A site-specific ‘wish list’ approach then enabled each hub to tailor enhancements to its community, creating a flexible, agile and resident-led development model that aligns with Wigan Council’s missions set out with the Progress with Unity plan.

Digi Dens also pioneers a blended delivery workforce – staff digital champions, community volunteers (TechMates), and specialist partners, providing a scalable and resilient framework. Integrating National Databank SIM gifting removes one of the biggest hidden barriers families face: reliability and affordability.

The initiative links access, skills, and safety and ongoing support into a single, coherent resident journey, reducing fragmentation Overall, Digi Dens demonstrates a bold, boundary-pushing redesign of how digital inclusion can be delivered within Family Hubs. It is creative, preventative, built on coproduction, and fully scalable – offering a blueprint that other local authorities can adopt to embed digital inclusion meaningfully within whole-family support.

What are the key learning points?

Co-Design from Day One:

One of the biggest successes has been starting with the voices of families and frontline partners. Light-touch surveys, workshops and conversations gave us a clear picture of what matters, what gets in the way, and what a digital space should genuinely feel like. Investing early in listening built trust, avoided costly redesign later, and ensured Digi Dens brought to life Wigan’s Working Together mission in practice

Get the Basics Right, then add Local Flavour:

A consistent core kit has proven essential for equality, equity and speed of delivery. But each Family Hub has its own personality, community mix and priorities, so local wish lists have helped shape Digi Dens that feel relevant and welcoming. The lesson we learned from this was standardise what you must, but customise what you can. This supports Building a Fairer Future by ensuring families see themselves reflected in their own space.

Small Group, Big Impact:

A tight, multi-disciplinary steering group has been key for pace and problem-solving. With the right people in the room, decisions on spend, staffing, safeguarding, and evaluation can be made quickly and confidently. Others can replicate this by avoiding sprawling governance and focusing instead on empowered, accountable doers.

Lead with social, build the skills:

We learned that digital confidence grows best when the activity doesn’t feel like a lesson. Coding games, creative play, group sessions and informal chats become natural gateways into conversations about digital safety, online school systems, employability and daily life admin. This social-first model reduces anxiety, strengthens belonging, and supports the Progress with Unity mission to Reduce Inequalities by meeting families where they are.

Tackling data poverty head-on is non-negotiable:

A recurring challenge was connectivity. Skills and devices mean little without data. Integrating the National Databank SIM gifting and Wi-Fi access directly into the model has been transformative, removing a barrier that often stops engagement before it even starts. The lesson for others: never treat connectivity as an option add on.

Measure what matters:

Early monitoring shows strong engagement: 35 sessions delivered, 494 residents supported, 293 at launch events. These numbers tell a story of reach, but the qualitative feedback – improved confidence, reduced fear of getting it wrong, and stronger family community connections, is just as important.

The model is built to track not only numbers, but progression, repeat engagement and resident stories, helping us demonstrate meaningful impact over time.

A scalable model any area can adopt:

Any local authority with family-facing venues can use the approach. Here are some of our key learnings from the project which can be replicated.

Listen first through light-touch consultation to understand what matters within communities

Co-design with families and staff from the start

Set a baseline kit list to ensure equity

Identify local digital champions and volunteers

Keep the programme social, playful and low-pressure

Use a small, empowered steering group to maintain momentum

Embed data poverty solutions from the start.

Increase visibility with Family Hubs, ensuring project momentum

Create your device specification around real use-cases. For us, that meant re-using and adapting the configuration from our public network access devices, which ensured reliability and consistency across hubs.

Additional Comments

Additional Comments Digi Dens transforms Family Hubs into welcoming gateways to digital confidence, co-designed with residents and delivered through practical access, skills, and safety. By embedding support where families already feel welcome, the model removes barriers and strengthens trust Early results show strong engagement and demonstrate a clear, scalable blueprint for wider public service transformation. Find out more at www.wigan.gov.uk/DigiDens