The Lived Experience of Digital Exclusion Event
Exploring the Real Lived Experience of Digital Exclusion
Consett, County Durham, DH8 5EF — Friday 26th June.
10:00am to 12:30pm, followed by a networking lunch!
Digital exclusion isn’t just about skills — it’s about confidence, access, opportunity, and the very real barriers people face in everyday life. Join us in Consett for a half‑day event bringing together organisations across County Durham to explore what digital exclusion really looks like, who it affects, and how we can respond with empathy, creativity and practical support and understanding.
This event is designed for community organisations, frontline staff, digital champions, volunteers, funders and anyone working to improve digital confidence and inclusion or with a wish to do so.
Workshop: Young People & Digital Exclusion — A focused session exploring the specific challenges young people face, from device access to online safety, confidence, and the pressures of digital‑first systems. Let's challenge the myth that all young people are fine in an increasingly digital world!
Workshop: Understanding Lived Experience — A broader look at digital exclusion across communities, including real stories from people who have struggled with digital confidence and overcome barriers with the support of digital champions, friends, and local services.
Networking Lunch — A relaxed opportunity to connect, share ideas, and build partnerships over lunch from 12:30pm onwards.
Community Stalls — A limited number of spaces will be available for community organisations to host informal stalls, share leaflets, chat with attendees, and showcase their digital inclusion work during breaks and over lunch.
Who Can Attend
The event will open first to organisations based in County Durham, with remaining places later offered to partners and networks across the wider North East.
Whether you’re supporting people with digital basics, delivering community services, or shaping strategy, this is a chance to deepen understanding, hear lived experience, and strengthen the collective effort to close the digital divide.
Heritage / March 12th, 2025
Delves Lane Primary School Poetry Anthology Part 2
The children at Delves Lane Primary School learnt about the history of the Consett Steelworks and developed their understanding of the impact that the steelworks closure had, and continues to have, on the community. They created paintings, poems and decorated a quilt. Each group chose a photo relating to the Consett Steelworks, and wrote their own poems using poetic techniques. We hope you enjoy them!
Heritage / August 29th, 2024
Consett's Broken Heart
'Consett's Broken Heart' is a poem created by Olivia, Alfie A, Alfie R, Daisie, Jaxon and Damien, of Moorside Primary School. This is a fabulous poem inspired by the impact the closing of the steelworks had on the town of Consett.
Heritage / October 5th, 2022
Celebrating Black History
Celebrate, Educate, Inspire – Our Trustee Gary Jones has been invited to a special reception at Parliament on the 26th October 2022 to celebrate Black History Month.