Digital exclusion: are charities leaving their beneficiaries behind?
Charities moved services online rapidly during COVID, but 7.9 million UK adults lack basic digital skills. The people most in need of charity support are the least likely to access it digitally.
The debate in brief
The pandemic forced charities online at speed. Between 2020 and 2022, organisations that had never delivered a service digitally found themselves running advice lines over Zoom, processing referrals through online forms, and communicating with beneficiaries via apps. Many of those changes stuck. But the people charities exist to serve -- older adults, disabled people, those in poverty, people without formal qualifications -- are the same populations most likely to be digitally excluded.
Good Things Foundation estimates that 7.9 million UK adults lack foundation-level essential digital skills. The Lloyds Consumer Digital Index 2024 found 1.6 million people remain entirely offline, and Ofcom data shows that 5% of UK adults -- around 2.8 million people -- have no home internet access. When charities assume digital access, they risk building services that work well for the already-connected while quietly excluding the people who need help most.
Quick takeaways
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| How many people in the UK are digitally excluded? | Around 7.9 million adults lack foundation-level essential digital skills, and 1.6 million remain entirely offline (Lloyds CDI 2024). |
| Did COVID accelerate the problem? | Yes. 38% of charities moved services online during the pandemic, but beneficiary access was not a primary consideration for many. |
| Are charities aware of the issue? | Broadly, yes. 82% of charities report concern about digital exclusion of their beneficiaries, but far fewer have acted on it. |
| Who is most affected? | Older adults, disabled people, those on low incomes, and people without formal qualifications -- groups that overlap heavily with charity beneficiaries. |
| What should charities do? | Maintain non-digital access routes, invest in digital support for beneficiaries, and test services with digitally excluded users before assuming online delivery works. |
| Is there government support? | The UK Government's Digital Inclusion Action Plan, launched in February 2025, has committed £11.9 million to digital inclusion projects, but sector bodies argue this remains insufficient for the scale of the problem. |
The arguments
The case for digital-first services
Charities operate under severe resource constraints, and digital delivery is genuinely cheaper. An advice session delivered by video call costs a fraction of one delivered in person when travel, premises, and staff time are accounted for. For geographically dispersed beneficiaries -- those in rural areas, people with mobility limitations, carers unable to leave home -- digital services can increase access rather than reduce it.
The Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 found that 74% of charities now treat digital as a strategic priority. Larger charities were significantly more likely to have moved services online (63% of those with income over £500,000, versus 24% of those under £10,000). In a funding environment where the employer National Insurance increase alone added an estimated £1.4 billion in costs across the sector from April 2025, finding cheaper delivery models is a matter of organisational survival.
The strongest objection is that efficiency gains measured in aggregate can mask exclusion at the individual level. A service that reaches 90% of users more cheaply but becomes inaccessible to the most vulnerable 10% has not improved outcomes for the people who matter most.
The case that digital-first means exclusion-first
The overlap between charity beneficiaries and digitally excluded populations is not a coincidence -- it is structural. Ofcom's research shows that 21% of people aged over 65 have no home internet access. Among the most socioeconomically deprived groups, 18% rely solely on smartphones for internet access, limiting what services they can meaningfully use. The Centre for Social Justice's 2023 report "Left Out" documented how digital-by-default public services were systematically failing the most disadvantaged communities, and the same dynamics apply to charities.
The pandemic made the problem visible. More than half of charities reported digital problems reaching their beneficiaries during COVID. But the response was uneven: while some organisations invested in lending devices and providing data, almost seven in ten charities said they did not offer digital skills training to beneficiaries. The Charity Digital Skills Report found that 66% of charities struggled to implement digital technology specifically because of service users' lack of digital skills -- yet the dominant response has been to keep building digital services rather than address the underlying access gap.
The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee put it bluntly in its 2023 report: the government had "no credible strategy" to tackle digital exclusion, describing the situation as a "direct consequence of political lethargy." The committee found that as services move online at unprecedented speed, many have no offline alternatives -- a criticism that applies as much to charities as to government.
The middle ground: digital and non-digital together
The most honest position is that neither pure digital nor pure in-person delivery serves all beneficiaries. The challenge is maintaining genuinely equivalent non-digital routes -- not as a token afterthought, but as a core part of service design. This is expensive and operationally demanding, which is precisely why many charities have failed to do it.
Some organisations have found practical solutions. Age UK's Digital Champion Programme pairs volunteers with older people to build skills and confidence. The government's Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund has supported over 80 community projects. But these interventions address individual capability without resolving the systemic question: when a charity designs a service around digital access, who bears the cost of inclusion for those who cannot participate?
The evidence
Good Things Foundation's Digital Nation data estimates that 7.9 million UK adults lack foundation-level essential digital skills. The Lloyds Consumer Digital Index 2024 found that only 48% of the UK workforce can complete all 20 essential digital skills tasks for work, and that 1.6 million people remain entirely offline -- down from 5.5 million in 2016, representing real progress on basic connectivity but a persistent skills gap.
Ofcom provides the most detailed demographic breakdown. Around 27% of UK adults are "narrow internet users" who stick to a few basic tasks due to fear or lack of confidence. Among over-65s, 21% have no home internet access. Those without internet cite lack of interest (74%) as the primary reason, but many have simply never been shown what the internet could do for them.
Within the charity sector, the Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 found 82% of charities concerned about digital exclusion of beneficiaries, yet 68% of small charities remain in the early stages of digital adoption and 37% cited lack of suitable devices as a barrier. The gap between concern and action is the central problem.
Current context
The UK Government published its Digital Inclusion Action Plan in February 2025 and released a one-year progress report in March 2026 claiming more than one million people had been helped to get online through combined government, industry, and charity efforts. The plan committed £11.9 million to an Innovation Fund supporting over 80 local digital inclusion projects, and a device refurbishment pilot donated around 200 devices to community centres and homelessness charities.
Good Things Foundation continues to operate the National Databank and National Device Bank, providing free mobile data and refurbished devices through a network of community organisations. The Charity Digital Skills Report found that while 74% of charities now treat digital as a priority, only around 24% were actively working to improve the diversity and inclusion of their digital services.
The AI adoption wave adds a new dimension to this debate. As charities adopt AI tools for triage, casework, and communication, the assumptions about digital access become even more embedded. The 76% of charities now using AI tools are building further layers of digital infrastructure on top of a foundation that excludes millions of potential beneficiaries.
Last updated: April 2026
What this means for charities
Any charity that has moved services online in the past five years should be asking a direct question: can all of our intended beneficiaries actually access what we offer? If the answer is no -- and for most charities serving disadvantaged populations, it will be -- then maintaining non-digital access routes is not optional, it is a matter of whether the organisation is fulfilling its charitable objects.
The practical steps are well established if underfunded. Telephone access must remain available for services delivered online. Paper forms should exist alongside digital ones. Outreach workers need to be able to refer people to face-to-face support. And digital inclusion -- helping beneficiaries build skills and access devices -- should be treated as part of service delivery, not as someone else's problem.
Trustees should be scrutinising digital service data for who is not using services, not just who is. A drop in service users after a digital transition may not mean reduced demand -- it may mean excluded beneficiaries.
Common questions
How many people in the UK lack basic digital skills?
Good Things Foundation estimates 7.9 million UK adults lack foundation-level essential digital skills. The Lloyds Consumer Digital Index 2024 found that only 48% of the workforce can complete all essential digital tasks for work. Both figures point to a population numbering in the millions who cannot fully participate in digital services.
Did COVID permanently change how charities deliver services?
Largely, yes. The pandemic accelerated a digital shift that was already underway, and most charities have not reverted to pre-pandemic delivery models. Research during COVID found that 38% of charities moved services online, with the figure rising to 63% for larger organisations. Many of those digital channels remain the primary or sole access route.
Are older people the only group affected by digital exclusion?
No. While 21% of over-65s lack home internet access, digital exclusion also disproportionately affects disabled people, those on low incomes, and people without formal qualifications. Ofcom data shows 18% of internet users rely solely on smartphones, limiting their ability to complete tasks like filling in forms or uploading documents -- barriers that affect working-age adults as much as older people.
What is the government doing about digital exclusion?
The Digital Inclusion Action Plan, published in February 2025, is the most significant government intervention to date. It committed £11.9 million to local digital inclusion projects through the Digital Inclusion Innovation Fund and established partnerships with broadband and mobile providers. The March 2026 progress report claimed over one million people had been supported. The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee had previously criticised government strategy as lacking ambition.
Should charities be responsible for their beneficiaries' digital skills?
This is genuinely contested. Some argue digital inclusion is a specialism best left to organisations like Good Things Foundation and local digital inclusion hubs. Others argue that if a charity's service requires digital access, the charity has an obligation to ensure its beneficiaries can access it -- just as a charity offering written materials would consider literacy levels. The practical answer is that charities do not need to become digital skills providers, but they do need to ensure non-digital alternatives exist and signpost beneficiaries to digital support.
Is digital exclusion getting better or worse?
The headline figures suggest improvement: only 1.6 million people are entirely offline in 2024, down from 5.5 million in 2016. But as services become more sophisticated -- requiring not just internet access but digital confidence, device capability, and data allowances -- the bar for meaningful inclusion keeps rising. Being online is no longer enough; the question is whether someone can navigate an online referral form, upload evidence documents, or join a video consultation. By that measure, exclusion remains widespread.
Key sources and further reading
Digital Nation infographic -- Good Things Foundation, 2025. The most accessible overview of UK digital exclusion data, drawing together Lloyds, Ofcom, and survey evidence.
UK Consumer Digital Index 2024 -- Lloyds Banking Group. The UK's largest annual study of digital and financial capability, tracking skills, confidence, and connectivity across demographics.
Digital exclusion (3rd Report of Session 2022-23) -- House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, June 2023. The most comprehensive parliamentary examination of digital exclusion, with recommendations the committee later said the government failed to engage with meaningfully.
Digital Inclusion Action Plan: One Year On -- UK Government (DSIT), March 2026. Progress report on the government's digital inclusion strategy, including Innovation Fund outcomes and industry partnership commitments.
Charity Digital Skills Report 2025 -- Charity Digital/Skills Platform. Annual survey of 672 charity professionals covering digital adoption, AI use, skills gaps, and concerns about beneficiary exclusion.
"Left Out" -- Centre for Social Justice, 2023. Report documenting how digital-by-default public services fail the most disadvantaged communities, with direct relevance to charity service design.
Ofcom Technology Tracker and Digital Exclusion Research -- Ofcom, ongoing. The most granular demographic data on internet access, device use, and digital confidence across the UK population.
COVID-19 and the digital divide -- Centre for Ageing Better, 2021. Analysis of how the pandemic exposed and widened digital exclusion among older adults, with implications for charity service delivery that persist.