Katherine Low Settlement Helps Older Residents Combat Digital Exclusion
With a Tech Up grant from Make Some Noise charity
Teching up at the Katherine Low Settlement. Picture: KLS
May 9, 2023
The Katherine Low Settlement (KLS) has received a £65,000 donation to fund tech classes for older people to build their confidence and wellbeing through digital inclusion.
The Wandsworth-based charity believes the investment will bring life-changing benefits to individuals in the local community. Aaron Barbour, CEO of the KLS said, “The extent of digital exclusion truly revealed itself during those early weeks of the Covid pandemic.
“We, like many other local charities, scrabbled around trying to get computers and data for local residents, as well as the training and support needed to use them. This generous donation from Global’s Make Some Noise enables us to support more vulnerable older people in Battersea to lead more connected and independent lives by being online.”
Make Some Noise, the official charity of Global Media and Entertainment, has distributed grants totalling £2.5 million to small charities and projects across the UK.
Make Some Noise funding provides a vital lifeline in communities, offering support to food banks, befriending projects for the elderly and isolated, cancer wellbeing programmes, domestic abuse refuges, employment opportunity schemes and for physical therapy for people with disabilities.
The Katherine Low Settlement building. Picture: Google Streetview
This year, the charities that Make Some Noise supports will receive thousands of pounds in ‘unrestricted’ funds - money they can use for any purpose - to help out with the growing impact of the cost-of-living crisis and to help keep their doors open. Many charities are facing growing waiting lists and unprecedented demand for their services, whilst themselves facing increased energy bills and costs for frontline staff.
Famous for its radio station portfolio which includes Capital, Heart, Classic FM, LBC, LBC News, Global’s Newsroom, Smooth, Radio X, Capital XTRA and Gold, Global has distributed grants totalling £2.5 million to small charities and projects across the UK from fundraising “thanks to the incredible generosity” of its listeners.
Suzanne Ryder Richardson, Director of Global Goodness at Global, said: “It’s been an incredibly tough couple of years for everyone and as the cost of living continues to increase, more people are turning to local groups for help, putting extra strain on their resources. With that in mind, I’m so pleased that Global’s Make Some Noise is able to help charities at the centre of the communities they serve and we will continue to raise money and awareness for their vital work.”
The Katherine Low Settlement has been working to reduce poverty and isolation as well as bring the community together since 1924, when it was set up as a memorial to Londoner Katherine Low who had devoted her life to caring for the less fortunate.
With a few staff and a lot of volunteers, the charity runs a range of community services, campaigns for social change, and incubates and supports other charities and social businesses.
Its building in Battersea High Street is used for community activities and events by over 500 people a week, supporting older people, children, young people and their families, women and refugees and newly arrived communities.
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