CityFibre donates £40,000 to Cambridge community connectivity project

Full-fibre provider CityFibre has awarded £40,000 in grants to four charities through its new Community Fund scheme.

Among the beneficiaries is Cambridge Online, which has received £40,000 to support its digital inclusion work.

The funding targets communities included in Project Gigabit, the government’s initiative to deliver high-speed broadband to hard-to-reach areas. The Fund offers both small and large grants and is exclusive to Project Gigabit areas, aligning with the government’s contractual obligations for delivering social value alongside broadband infrastructure.

CityFibre’s Community Fund is designed to complement infrastructure rollout by ensuring people also have the skills and support they need to get online and use digital services confidently.

According to the Cambridgeshire Digital Partnership, around one percent of residents in the region are not online. Cambridge Online, a founding member of the Partnership, has launched a new year-long programme to expand its network of community hubs across Peterborough and Cambridge. The initiative will also help recruit more volunteers to support digitally excluded residents.

Marcus Whewell, CEO of Cambridge Online, said: “Thanks to CityFibre’s support, we can now scale up our free services and reach even more people in need. We’re proud to launch over a dozen community training hubs in the coming months.”

Cambridge Online currently supports over 1,500 people each year with free digital literacy sessions, delivered in partnership with local community organisations.

In addition to Cambridge Online, CityFibre’s Community Fund is also supporting:

• Phoenix Youth Provision

• Amplius

• First Star Scholars UK

These organisations are all based in areas where CityFibre is deploying Project Gigabit infrastructure.