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.

We are delighted to launch our latest training brochure which is packed with lots of new and exciting courses and training programmes.

Advice NI has proved that technology isn’t just for the young. The organisation has just won an all-Ireland award for its older person’s digital inclusion project, Supporting Active Engagement, which is funded by Big Lottery Fund.

Volunteers' Week is an annual celebration of the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank our dedicated group of volunteers who work on the Supporting Active Engagement project.