News Articles

Advice NI Calls for urgent action to combat digital exclusion and protect vulnerable communities.

Advice NI has said Northern Ireland must follow new Debt Relief Orders (DROs) rules applied this week in England and Wales – transformative measures for those facing the burden of debt. In his spring budget, the Chancellor announced the removal of the £90 administration fee associated with Debt Relief Orders (DROs) and increased the maximum debt threshold from £30,000 to £50,000 – whilst also increasing the allowable value of retained motor vehicles from £2,000 to £4,000 - across England and Wales.

Advice NI is seeking to recruit volunteers from rural communities to deliver on a LINK funded project. As part of LINK's access to cash activities, LINK wishes to support and encourage digital inclusion in the UK, including through initiatives with selected groups and individuals.

Advice NI have partnered with SENAC to deliver a tailored Digital Skills programme for parents of children with additional needs.

Northern Ireland has the highest rate of non-internet users on these islands at 14.7% (Office of National Statistics, 2021. Digital 2021: Ireland).

Advice NI, in partnership with the Special Educational Needs Advice Centre (SENAC), plan to support carers of children with learning difficulties to become more digitally included enabling them to engage with policy and decision makers and to access their rights and entitlements. Funded by the Department of Health, this project will support carers to learn the digital skills to go online safely and to access their rights and entitlements. We will be sharing more updates on this project in our next edition of Advice Matters.

If you are passionate about helping people enhance their digital skills, we have exciting volunteer opportunities available.

On 2 October, Advice NI Supporting Active Engagement team joined the celebration of International Day of Older Persons event in the Maldron Hotel hosted by our member Apex.

Congratulations to our 106 graduates who successfully completed the Right for Seniors Digital Course! We are so proud of your achievement and wish you all the best in your safe and confident digital journey!

Through its Rights4Seniors digital training programme, Advice NI, a leading rights-based charity, has established a successful method for enabling older people, particularly those who are vulnerable, to navigate and use the Internet with confidence.

As part of Get Online Week we helped a group of older people boost their digital skills by showing them how to fill out online forms and demonstrating streaming music online.

In 2018, Advice NI saw the conclusion of the Building Resilience in Retirement project.