17 November 2025: A Norfolk charity that helps people with learning disabilities stay safe online has secured £50,000 from CityFibre via its new Community Fund programme.
Opening Doors supports adults with learning disabilities across Norfolk through its Get Online, Be Safe Online project, helping people to gain digital skills, independence and confidence when using the internet. The charity is run by and for people with learning disabilities, providing support across a range of subjects such as social skills, health and independence to support people to be healthy, happy and safe.
The money has been used to set up its new Get Online, Be Safe Online project, which aims to share practical advice to those who need it most.
Welcoming the support, Jason Hyde, Project Manager for Opening Doors, said: “It is very important for everyone to be able to remain safe and get around online. I am proud to be the Project Manager on our CityFibre Get Online, Be Safe Online project. As someone who has a learning disability and uses the internet every day to be part of my community and keep in contact with family and friends, I understand how important this campaign is.
“This project will open doors for people who have a learning disability, to find out more information online and understand how to keep safe, gain independence and recognise safe places to seek help.”
The new project from Opening Doors will create five digital champions over the course of a year. Every month, members of the scheme will receive one-to-one support sessions to help them with any questions and will provide them the skills to best use the internet.
Stacey King, Senior Partnership Manager for CityFibre, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to support such impactful causes to help digital inclusion across Norfolk. The internet should be a safe space for everyone, and that’s why CityFibre is supporting Opening Doors and its valuable mission.
“I’m proud that CityFibre has been such an integral part of the county’s digital future and I look forward to seeing what’s next for Norfolk’s community.”
Underpinning Opening Doors’ mission is a need to better utilise technology, equip their members to succeed in a digital age and helping them gain the confidence to have a good life and be more independent online.
Each learner who takes part in Get Online, Be Safe Online will be given a tablet with free internet access to practice their new skills and explore more of what the world wide web has to offer. A total of 65 people with learning disabilities will have two peer led-training workshops to support them in feeling more confident and gain new skills to take part in life online. By the end of the project, they will have learned how to perform essential digital tasks, such as how to stay safe online, sending emails, contacting friends and services, and using apps.
Digital literacy and inclusion across Norfolk have been on the agenda for some time, with Norfolk County Council launching its Digital Inclusion Strategy back in 20212. The strategy aims for ‘every Norfolk resident to be provided with the appropriate digital access opportunities to meet their needs and enable them to be digitally included in all aspects of their lives’. Since the launch of the strategy, Norfolk County Council has released a portfolio of projects to meet this aim, including ‘Better Broadband for Norfolk’, ‘The Local Full Fibre Network Programme’ and improving public access to Wi-Fi.
In 2011, only 42% of Norfolk properties had a connection to superfast broadband. Thanks to Norfolk’s unwavering dedication to upgrading its digital strategy coverage, the figure now stands at over 95% across Norfolk and continues to grow3. CityFibre’s infrastructure has contributed to these projects through its commercial build across various Norfolk towns, the UK Government’s Project Gigabit programme and most recently CityFibre’s grant to Opening Doors.
The CityFibre Community Fund also supports four other community impact organisations in Norfolk as part of its Small Grants arm; Norfolk Community Law Service, National Centre for Writing, Catton Grove Community Centre and Rothbury Community Hall.
The CityFibre Community Fund supports projects that promote digital inclusion, literacy or accessibility, as part of CityFibre’s Project Gigabit commitments 4. The fund is part of the company’s wider social value work with both STEM Learning5 and The Wildlife Trust.
To find out more about CityFibre’s work, including Project Gigabit news, head to the CityFibre website.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
CityFibre’s Community Fund is a grants scheme consisting of small and large grants funding streams. Awardees will exclusively reside within Project Gigabit locations (lots) as part of the Project Gigabit contract awarded for that area.
Award in Cambridgeshire: https://cambridgeshiredigitalpartnership.org.uk/2024/01/05/working-together-to-get-cambridgeshire-online-digital-inclusion-for-cambridgeshire-and-peterborough/
1: Opening Doors: https://www.openingdoors.org.uk/
2: Norfolk’s Digital Inclusion Strategy: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/38926/Introduction
3: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/39552/Improving-broadband-for-Norfolk
4: Big Issue Connect: https://www.bigissue.com/
Norfolk Community Law Service: https://www.ncls.co.uk/
Catton Grove Community Centre: https://www.cattongrovecentre.org/
National Centre for Writing: https://nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk/
Rothbury Community Hall: https://www.creativeartseast.co.uk/venues/rothbury-community-hall/
5: https://cityfibre.com/news/cityfibre-helps-to-inspire-next-generation-of-digital-innovators-with-stem-learning-partnership
About Project Gigabit:
Project Gigabit is the UK government’s rollout of lightning-fast, reliable broadband across the UK. The programme targets homes and businesses that are not included in broadband companies’ commercial plans, reaching parts of the country that would otherwise miss out.
To date, CityFibre has secured nine Project Gigabit contracts, totalling over £865m in government subsidies to serve more than 464,000 hard to reach rural homes and businesses in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Sussex, Kent, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire & Milton Keynes. CityFibre has also recently taken over responsibility for a tenth contract following the recent acquisition deal of Connexin’s infrastructure.
Alongside co-investment from CityFibre, the awards have unlocked almost £1.2bn in combined public and private investment in rural broadband.
The government is committed to achieving nationwide gigabit coverage and expects 99% of premises to have access to a gigabit-capable connection by 2032.
About CityFibre:
CityFibre is the UK’s largest independent full fibre infrastructure platform, providing carrier-neutral digital infrastructure to its wholesale customers and enabling ultra-fast, reliable and futureproof broadband, Ethernet and 5G services to homes and businesses as well as schools, hospitals and GP surgeries. CityFibre’s full fibre network rollout targets at least a third of the UK market: more than 8 million premises.
As the UK’s most intelligent fibre network, CityFibre is trusted by major Internet Service Providers and mobile operators including TalkTalk, Three, Vodafone and Zen as well as a new generation of smaller regional ISPs dedicated to delivering full fibre broadband. In August 2024, Sky and CityFibre announced a long-term partnership that will see Sky launch broadband services on the CityFibre network.
CityFibre is owned by funds managed by Antin Infrastructure Partners, Infrastructure at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Mubadala Investment Company, Interogo Holding, Newlight Partners and PATRIZIA’s European Infrastructure Fund II.
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