DIGITS Highbury

$67 of $62,000 goal

Given by 4 generous donors in around 6 months

Be part of DIGITS – Digital Inclusion for 1000 families in Palmerston North. Each family gets a Chromebook, Internet and Tuition.

Manawatu / Whanganui

DIGITS and Te Aroha Noa Community Services is bringing digital inclusion to 60 families in Highbury. We need to raise $62k and the families will contribute $50k over 24 months.

DIGITS is a home-grown, city-wide effort to provide devices, Internet connections and digital literacy tuition to 1,000 households with school-aged children in Palmerston North by 2018. Digital tuition is provided by volunteer tutors. Funding is provided by fund-raising, family contributions and business sponsorship.

DIGITS provides families with school aged children with a Chromebook, an Internet connection and digital literacy tuition. Families pay $5-$10 a week and DIGITS is seeking discounted Internet connections for the families.

There is high demand for the services DIGITS provides. In the DIGITS pilot held in Roslyn, parents and teachers confirmed that it is both affordable and that it is meeting a need. A comparison of areas shows that Highbury is the most digitally excluded area in the city. 32% of households with dependent children do not have access to the Internet, compared to the city average of 13% or Aokautere at 2%. (NZ census 2013). What this means is that families with school aged children in Highbury have the most to gain from this digital inclusion project.

A key feature of DIGITS is that it's focussed on the whole whanau. Kids get a Chromebook to take to school and mum and dad learn how to use the Internet and support their chiild's education at home.

Outcomes for children include increased confidence in numeracy and literacy; increased confidence generally. Parents are better able to be involved in their child’s homework and communicate electronically with school. Family members are able to pursue their own enquiries and solve problems online.

Members of the Highbury community are working together to alleviate the negative aspects and perceptions of the suburb. It has huge community pride, strong community agencies, social cohesion and many families. This community has shown strength and resilience. This is the place to invest in.

Whether you give $5 or $5,000, you're helping to make sure that Palmerston North is the city where every single child is connected.