Digital Communities Wales Internship 2024

Cwmpas is offering internships with our Inclusive Communities Directorate. The aim of the 6-month long internship in the Digital Communities Wales: Digital Confidence, Health and Wellbeing (DCW) team is engaging with people with lived experience from diverse backgrounds to develop an understanding of the digital inclusion agenda within Wales, be upskilled as a Digital Champion, and encourage citizen engagement. This internship is available for anyone aged 18+, at any point in their career, as an opportunity to work with Wales’ only national digital inclusion programme.  

Our organisation 

Cwmpas is a development agency working for positive change, in Wales and across the UK. We are a co-operative, and our focus is on building a fairer, greener economy and a more equal society, where people and planet come first. 

We aim to create a greener and fairer economy by working to increase the proportion of the economy made up by social enterprises, co-operatives and employee-owned businesses; a more equal society by working to advance social justice – increasing access, equity, diversity and participation; and making positive change happen by working with people and organisations to take action for social good. 

Underpinning our work is a commitment to delivering support to people, communities and businesses in ways that reflect our own co-operative values. We believe that how we do things is just as important as what we do. Our values are inspired by the international co-operative principles but are written in the words of our staff. They are: 

• be co-operative 

• be supportive 

• be fair 

• have integrity 

• be positive 

• be inspirational. 

As a not-for-profit organisation, our work is financed through contracts and trading as well as being supported by a variety of funders including Welsh Government. 

You can read all about our areas of work here, and you can read about the impact that we make here. 

Our people 

Across Wales we now employ nearly 100 people of different ages, genders and sexual orientations.  However, we recognise that we are not fully representing the communities and people that we serve in terms of race and disability and are very keen to ensure that we fully embrace the skills, abilities and experiences of people from varied backgrounds because we believe that equity, diversity and inclusion is critical to our growth. 

The opportunity

Digital Communities Wales  

The focus and aim of DCW from April 1st, 2024 – 30th June 2025 is to embed and mainstream digital inclusion within thematic areas ensuring ownership of digital inclusion.   Now, more than ever, it is crucial that digital inclusion is embedded into, mainstreamed and owned by organisations and communities across Wales. Digital inclusion is not one organisation’s responsibility, and it cannot be championed by one programme alone. It requires collaboration, cooperation, and commitment by various stakeholders, working together, so we can create a digitally inclusive nation in Wales that benefits everyone and leaves no one behind.  

Each internship will run for up to six months starting work alongside the DCW team, before spending time with a trusted partner organisation. At the end of the 6 months the interns will be encouraged to act as Digital Champions within their communities.   

What is the aim? 

Our thematic areas are Health, Social Care, Social Housing, Older People, Ethnic minority communities, and Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities. We know that these areas have the greatest touch points with communities most at risk of being digitally excluded, including those with disabilities and limiting lifelong conditions. The aim of this internship is to increase awareness of digital inclusion, and for the intern to become a ‘Digital Champion’ amongst people that have experienced barriers to engaging online and lay the foundations for reaching and embedding digital inclusion. 

This internship is available for anyone aged 18+, at any point in their career, as an opportunity to work with Wales’ leading Digital Inclusion programme. 

This programme is open to individuals with lived experience in line with our programme thematic areas. We’re looking for people with lived experience from these areas: 

• People from diverse ethnic minority communities 

• People from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities  

• Older people  

• People with disabilities or lifelong conditions  

• People who live in social housing  

• People who are or have been Carers  

What is on offer? 

We will offer a 6-month internship with our Digital Communities Wales team. The internship will run from 01 August 2024 to 31st March 2025. Ideally, the internship would be a full-time role (35 hours per week), but we would also consider the intern working on a part-time basis (21-35 hours per week) if this helps to support other commitments or accessibility needs. We will pay the real living wage for this role, i.e., £12 per hour (equivalent to £21,840 per annum) pro-rata if part-time hours are requested, if this helps to support other commitments or accessibility needs. 

The Intern will work from home utilising digital solutions such as Microsoft Teams to communicate with team members and manage work documents. Digital equipment will be supplied to enable them to do this. There will be opportunities to spend time with the wider Digital Communities Wales team in person, and online. Co-working spaces can be explored. Where travel within Wales is required, Cwmpas will pay mileage costs or will purchase tickets for public transport. 

What will you be doing? 

Based in our Digital Communities Wales team you will be involved in reaching out to and engaging with people from marginalised communities across Wales to promote and encourage engagement with our digital inclusion programme. 

This will involve understanding the barriers and digital inclusion agenda. You will be upskilled to provide and support with our digital inclusion training programme, and will work closely with our Thematic working groups to build meaningful relationships and bring people together to discuss the challenges they face and how to overcome them co-operatively, whilst promoting digital inclusion to organisations and communities.  

A typical day could include: 

• Speaking with communities about their digital inclusion needs  

• Understanding and researching the digital inclusion, and exclusion agenda in line with the thematic groups above.   

• Hosting community engagement events including information sessions, drop ins, workshops etc to encourage improved digital skills and confidence, while inspiring groups to think differently about digital. These could be hosted online or in person with community groups.  

• Working as part of a team to influence policy and decision makers. 

• Connecting with other interns within Cwmpas’ Inclusive Communities directorate and sharing ideas and learning.  

What will you learn? 

• You will learn about the digital inclusion agenda in Wales, and the importance that inclusion plays for future digital transformation.  

• You will learn about the benefits of embedding digital skills and confidence in communities and organisations, including how it can decrease social isolation and loneliness, increase confidence and skills, as well as create more resilient digital citizens.   

• You will get to the opportunity to engage with a wide variety of people and communities, and help them to take action in tackling issues that matter to them. 

• You will gain valuable experience of working as part of a driven and fast paced team, which works with varied and diverse communities across Wales. 

• We will provide you with a remit for your work, which will allow you to work independently and use your own creativity but will also provide you with support when you need it. 
• You will have access to our E-learning Hub, which has a wide range of modules available on such subjects as Health and Safety, GDPR, Leadership, IT and Well-being. You will also be involved in team meetings and will be able to take part in any internal training opportunities that might arise from time to time. 

What skills do you need? 

We are looking for candidates who are: 

• committed to our organisational values 

• able to promote our commitment to equality, fairness and inclusion 

• able to communicate (verbally and in writing) to a good standard in English 

• able to organise themselves well and handle different work for different deadlines 

• able to work well within a team 

• able to think creatively, and suggest new ideas 

• able to use a computer and ideally platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Powerpoint, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube. 

Who can apply? 

If you think you would be a good fit for our work placement, we are looking for people: 

• who can evidence the right to work in the UK 

• who are able to commit to the full 6-month placement period on either a full or part-time basis 

• who can access the internet from home 

• who can travel to meetings or events as required. 

We particularly encourage applications from people who are traditionally underrepresented in the Welsh labour market, but this placement is open to all eligible applicants regardless of sex, age, disability, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion, belief or non-belief, pregnancy, marriage or civil partnership. It is also open to people with any level of work experience in any field, including those with no experience at all.