A collaboration between Community Integrated Care, one of the UK’s biggest social care organisations, and Okta, a world leader in online identity management, is capturing the imagination of the care sector and beyond.
Over the past 12 months, the partnership has launched a number of digital campaigns which have supported thousands of people with care and support needs to harness the power of technology to improve their lives.
The success and impact of the partnership has led to it picking up a number of accolades in the sector. November’s National Care Awards win in the ‘Best Business Initiative’ category followed the project being honoured as a finalist in the Technology category at the 2022 Markel Third Sector Awards.
The multi-faceted programme has included educating people who draw on, or work in, social care on how best to use online search tools to access more opportunities in their communities through the ‘Big Adventure’ project. This initiative saw thousands of people uncover resources in their communities to find new hobbies and passions and seek out aspirational opportunities, through the power of internet search.
The partnership has also supported people to navigate the cost-of-living crisis with their online training resource, Taking Charge. This project has led to hundreds of pounds worth of savings for care services throughout the sector.
Meanwhile, a specially designed online activity platform, What To Do, has connected people who access care and support with the likes of England women’s football international players, professionals from Strictly Come Dancing and stars of the Great British Bake Off. Participants have experienced over 30,000 hours of inspiring sessions in their own homes thanks to the accessible opportunities the internet can enable.
Having launched the partnership in early 2022, these projects have meant people have saved hundreds of pounds, at a time when the cost of living has become a serious challenge for people accessing care and support. The charity has also seen people use the internet to connect with life changing opportunities.
John Hughes, Director of Partnerships and Communities at Community Integrated Care, said, “This partnership with Okta has led to huge lifestyle changes for people we support, and behaviour change in our teams. People have secured vocational opportunities, signed up to college courses and generally found lots of hidden gems in their communities. We’ve seen the new leases of life the internet allows through making the internet more accessible.”
“The award is testament to all we have achieved in our efforts towards increasing digital inclusion over the past 12 months. We’ve seen how access to technology and increased online confidence can be truly life changing. Too often people with disabilities face barriers to harnessing this valuable resource, however, Okta understand the difference that an effective programme like this can make and share our passion to close the digital divide.”
He continued, “We’d like to say a huge thank you to Okta for working so closely with us to bring these programmes to life, as well as providing generous donations of devices for the people we support. We see the huge difference that this is making across our charity as more people are experiencing incredible things that are contributing to their best life possible, thanks to the skills they’ve learnt and having access to the online world.”
Okta’s Director of Social Impact, Victor Cordon, said: “We’re delighted that this partnership with Community Integrated Care has been acknowledged with such a prestigious award. Technology can play a critical role in addressing many of society’s inequalities. The collaboration between Okta and Community Integrated Care is all about making digital more accessible, enabling people to live richer and fuller lives. It’s incredible to see the impacts of these projects and Okta is proud to support efforts that enable so many people to have access to technology, broaden their horizons and build their confidence to succeed.