End Digital Poverty Day will become End Digital Poverty Week this September, as the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) marks its 25th anniversary by expanding the annual awareness initiative into a week-long national campaign.
Taking place from 7th to 13th September, the campaign aims to highlight the growing impact of digital poverty across the UK and encourage organisations, communities and individuals to take practical action to tackle digital exclusion.
The DPA said the move reflects the reality that digital poverty extends far beyond access to the internet, affecting people’s ability to learn, work, manage finances, access public services and maintain social connections.
According to the organisation’s 25th Anniversary Impact Report, up to 19 million people across the UK are affected by digital poverty. The charity said barriers include unaffordable broadband, outdated devices, limited digital skills and a lack of confidence using online services, with the consequences felt across education, employment, healthcare and financial security.
The alliance said ending digital poverty requires ensuring people have access to suitable devices, affordable connectivity, digital skills and ongoing support, enabling them to participate fully in modern life.
As part of the week’s programme, the End Digital Poverty Gala Reception will take place on 10th September at the Royal Watercolour Society Gallery in London. The event will include the announcement of the 2026 Digital Inclusion Award winners, recognising signatories of the DPA’s Charter for Digital Inclusion whose work has improved access to technology, strengthened digital skills and supported collaboration across the sector.
To support participation, the DPA has also launched a Communications and Fundraising Toolkit, providing campaign messaging, social media resources, fundraising guidance and activity ideas for organisations and individuals wishing to get involved.
The alliance hopes the expanded campaign will build on the momentum of previous years, creating a stronger national focus on digital inclusion and encouraging collective action to ensure fewer people are left behind in an increasingly digital society.
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance, said ‘End Digital Poverty Day has always given us a moment to bring people together, but a single day can only carry so much. Becoming End Digital Poverty Week allows us to tell more of the story, recognise more of the work taking place across the country, and keep attention on the people who are still being held back by the cost of connectivity, lack of access to suitable devices, and systems that increasingly assume everyone can participate online.’
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