This summer we began working alongside the incredible Bluesci folk at Coppice Library in Trafford, bringing digital skills support directly into the heart of the community. Today, we proudly handed everything over to the Bluesci team, an emotional milestone that reflects weeks of collaboration, determination and shared purpose.
From day one, Bluesci’s Chief Executive, Lindsey, has shown tenacity beyond measure. Her commitment to supporting local people has moved mountains to make this space thrive. Now, their very own coordinator, Cassie, will be taking the lead, supported by an amazing team of fully trained digital champions who bring patience, kindness and expertise to every session.
At Starting Point, we’ve always believed that when you share what works, digital inclusion becomes infectious. You can feel it spreading through communities, one conversation, one breakthrough, one person at a time. Because digital inclusion happens in communities.
Today we met Allan, a new attendee who has recently retired from the ambulance service. He’s now becoming an Appropriate Adult, supporting young people in police stations, an important role that means a lot to him. But like so many people, he found that the digital side of things was holding him back.
We sat together and worked through the online DBS portal he needed to complete. We covered how to email photos from his phone to his laptop, and we signed him up to Learn My Way so he could build skills from home between sessions.
He told us he’d be returning, and when I explained that Cassie and the same digital champions would be there to continue supporting him, he smiled with relief.
Then he said something that really stayed with us:
“This is a great place with friendly people. I really don’t know where I would have gone if you couldn’t help me. I just love helping people, and the laptop makes it harder.”
It’s exactly why this work matters. Digital barriers don’t just get in the way of tasks, they get in the way of people doing what they care about most.
We embedded accessibility and user-friendly tools and trained and empowered local digital champions. This approach allowed us to focus on building confidence through patient, person-centred support, connecting people with ongoing learning resources.
And none of this would work without the right people at the heart of it, leaders like Lindsey, workers like Cassie, and volunteers who show up each week with empathy and encouragement.
Today wasn’t an ending, it was a handover. A chance for local people to take ownership and for the Bluesci team to keep building something strong, inclusive and sustainable.
We’re incredibly proud to have played a part in laying the foundations. And we’ll continue to champion the belief that digital inclusion isn’t a project, it’s a movement.
Well done to Mike and Chloe in our team to bringing this work to life.
