With new research revealing half of Londoners are only one pay slip away from serious hardship and are even limiting how they use their mobile phones to cut down on costs, ACDA Skills Training centre in Southall is providing free mobile data to help people in need stay connected.

The ACDA Skills Training centre is a National Databank Hub which is like a foodbank but provides free O2 mobile data, texts and calls to people who need it.

It was among the first centres to join the National Databank when the initiative was launched by Virgin Media O2 and the UK’s leading digital inclusion charity, Good Things Foundation in 2021.

The centre is a lifeline for those in need across Southall and West London, with a new study finding the cost-of-living crisis is stopping 1 in 10 low-income Brits across the country – those with household incomes of up to £25,000 – from calling or texting their loved ones, while 10 per cent are limiting how they use their mobile data.

A further 70 per cent of those earning less than £25,000 say they don’t know what they’d do if they couldn’t access the internet, with almost 4 in 10 (38%) saying they rely on their phone to get online.

Southall’s National Databank Hub

The ACDA Skills Training centre is providing people in need with 20GB of free O2 data per month – enough for around 220 hours of internet browsing per month.

Suzanne, a student from London has been accessing support via the ACDA Skills Training National Databank Hub She said:

“I am very thankful to ACDA Skills Training for providing me with SIM cards and data each month. I have found it extremely useful and invaluable as I currently don’t have any internet facilities in my home. I use the SIM card and data to complete my homework, attend Zoom meetings, and watch videos or listen to music in my free time.

Vick Virdee, Training Manager at ACDA Skills Training shared his experience supporting the local community. He commented:

“ACDA Skills Training has been a part of the National Databank since it’s pilot in 2021. We’re proud to support the most vulnerable in our society and provide them with access to data. We believe having data is a basic necessity and is just as important as having water, gas or electricity. Some of our most important transactions require internet access including calling family, online banking, taking courses or accessing medical help, so it’s integral that everyone has the opportunity to access data when they need it.”

Since the National Databank was launched in July 2021, Virgin Media O2 has provided more than 70,000 free O2 SIM cards and 50,000 free O2 data vouchers. Virgin Media O2 has committed more than 61 million GB of free O2 data to the initiative by the end of 2025 and, at the end of last year, brought the National Databank to the High Street for the first time, trialling the initiative at 10 O2 stores over the Christmas period.