The Digital & Data Fund was created in response to the C-19 pandemic, specifically to a need within the displaced community to connect with their loved ones, schools, and local services. Over the course of April, we heard the same story over and over again of families and individuals living in isolation, unable to contact anyone outside their household. For asylum seekers, it was often a choice between eating and data as financial support for asylum seekers is capped at £5.39 per day. 

At the beginning of May 2020, we launched an appeal on Localgiving. Around the same time, The Rayne Foundation made a generous donation of £3k “in response to the Covid 19 pandemic”. With the money raised from this appeal, and from the donation given to us by the Rayne Foundation, we were able to help displaced people in Wales access data and devices. The nature of this project meant that the need far outstripped the supply.