Frequently Asked Questions

A Digital Champion is anyone who champions digital skills, who leaps in to support those with digital problems and wants to bridge the digital skills gap among those who struggle with their technological problems. Every year, more services move online and more information can only be found on the internet, and those who don’t have the skills to keep up with digitisation are left further behind. If you’ve ever helped a grandparent learn how to use WhatsApp, recommended an online service to a friend, or helped a colleague with a new keyboard shortcut to make their day easier – congratulations, you are a Digital Champion!

We are looking for Digital Champions who want to make a difference. Whether that is a difference to your family, your next-door neighbours, in your workplace or in your community, we want to make sure you are supported to your work to bridge the digital divide. Our Network is there to support you, to connect you with others who are passionate about helping others and upskill you as a Digital Champion, and offering volunteering opportunities so that you can reach the people in most need across Kent.

Not at all! We welcome people of all skills levels to join our network – for us, it is more important to have problem solving skills and teaching skills in order to support people who are struggling with their tech. However, if you want to volunteer in the community, it helps to have a good level of digital confidence with the basics of using a phone, laptop or computer.

We have a breakdown of all the steps involved in becoming a Digital Champion on our page here: Digital Champion Journey

No. Unfortunately, even if you already have a DBS, we are required to carry out a new DBS check through KCC’s internal DBS service, EmploymentCheck.

When you receive a successful DBS check, we will provide a link to our Delta e-learning service. The training there is to provide you with necessary information on GDPR and safeguarding training, to be part of Kent County Council's network. We do not provide general digital skills training as all of our Digital Champions will have a different level of digital skills and we hope you have a good degree of digital confidence, however we have recordings of past training sessions on a variety of topics (including using the NHS App, Fraud Prevention and energy advice from the Green Doctors), and a knowledge hub with resource for plenty of self-learning.

We are incredibly flexible with the Digital Champion role, and have members of the network who don't volunteer at all and simply want access to the training we offer, keep up to date with digital inclusion news within Kent and use our knowledge to support the communities or workplaces they are already in. If you would like to be a volunteer with us and offer your time to support Kent residents, we ask that you volunteer with us a minimum of twice a year. Most of our volunteering opportunities ask for around 2 hours each month at a location suitable to you - you can volunteer in one location or many, it is entirely up to you, and sometimes we offer one-off events that could use the support of a Digital Champion. This role is as much or as little as you like, we want to make being a Digital Champion as flexible as we can to suit many different people's timetables.

Upon your successful application to be a Digital Champion, we will provide information on how to log your volunteering activity. This doesn't just have to be from opportunities provided by our team, but any instance of you supporting another person with their digital skills will count towards your volunteering hours. 

Yes, we do offer travel expenses for volunteering efforts in the community. We will share more details when you become a Digital Champion.

We take any and all safeguarding concerns incredibly seriously, whether that is a concern about a member of the public, or if you are personally made uncomfortable. We have a zero-tolerance policy on any form of aggression, harassment, discrimination, or microaggressions towards our volunteers. We don’t expect you will be put in difficult positions, as all our volunteering efforts happen in public spaces and during working hours (unless otherwise arranged), but if it does happen then it should be reported immediately to a member of the Digital Champions team and will be escalated.

Safeguarding training is available to you in your course of training on our Delta e-learning platform, and we would heavily encourage you to take the course to prepare for any eventuality while volunteering.

There is a small team of people who look after the Digital Champions Network, but you will predominantly speaking with Bryony Goble who is the Project and Engagement Officer overseeing the network, and Kirsten who is our Project Support Apprentice. If you need to get in touch with a member of the team, you can email us at digitalchampions@kent.gov.uk or call us on 03000 410950.