Lots of us struggle to afford to get online – but free mobile data from the National Databank could help us out
At Quids in! we’re always talking about the benefits of being online – but lots of us can’t always afford the mobile data.
This Christmas we can get 20GB of free data from mobile provider O2 through the National Databank.
It’s part of a bid to help all of us get online and stay online. Using the internet can help us find the best prices and also keeps us in touch with family and friends.
How do I get the data?
The good news is that the National Databank has now moved on to the high street. Ten O2 stores are offering 20GB of free data every month for up to six months.
That should keep us online for 220 hours a month.
The stores taking part are in Ballymena, Broadstairs (Thanet Westwood Cross) Colchester, Hastings, Hull (Jameson Street), Norwich, Newport, Perth, Plymouth, and Stockton-on-Tees (Teesside Retail Park).
But if the free data isn’t being offered in our local store, we can still access it. There are 650 organisations that are working with the National Databank. We can find one near us here.
Free SIMS as well
All O2 stores are offering special Christmas SIM cards (and we can access them online too). They’re free and will give us 7GB of data, but supplies are limited so we’ll have to be quick. We should ask for the O2 Christmas SIM Card.
We can also pick one up as a gift for someone else who might need it.
Data poverty is a big deal. It’s thought two million homes in the UK are affected, so if that sounds like us we’re far from alone.
That’s why the National Databank was set up. It’s like a food bank for data.
Help is out there
Of course, having the data isn’t much good if we don’t know what to do with it. That’s why there’s also help for people who need internet skills.
Online Centres can help us if we need to skill up and overcome our fears. And Good Things Foundation has loads of free lessons if we’re already online but just want to get a bit more confident.
Quids in! teamed up with Good Things Foundation in 2020 for our Nobody In The Dark campaign. The campaign helps people who are unsure about the internet boost their incomes.
It includes the Future-Proof Finance Quiz – a safe and easy quiz that anyone can do. It could leave us hundreds of pounds better off so it’s worth having a look.
Image: Keira Burton / Pexels
