Inclusive Bytes runs sessions across Oldham that help people get confident with the technology they already own, and help young people build the skills to go further with it.
We’re run by volunteers. Not “supported by” them. Run by them. If you can spare a few hours a month, there’s a job here with your name on it.
The problem we’re working on
Digital exclusion isn’t only about not owning a device. It’s about not having anyone to ask. A confusing NHS app. A council form that only exists online. A bank that closed its last local branch. A password nobody can remember.
People aren’t short of technology. They’re short of patient, local, human help.
That’s the gap our volunteers fill.
1,298
Residents supported since
408
sessions delivered last year
46
Active volunteers
Where you could fit
Four routes in. Most volunteers end up doing a bit of more than one.
Digital Champion
Sit with someone. Work it out together.
What you’d do: Support residents at our drop-in sessions with whatever they’ve brought through the door, a phone that’s stopped syncing, an email account they’ve been locked out of, a form they can’t get past. You’re not fixing devices. You’re building someone’s confidence so they need us less next time.
What we need from you: Patience. The ability to explain something twice, differently, without sighing. Everyday familiarity with phones, tablets and laptops, the level you’d need to help a family member.
Time: One session a fortnight, roughly 2 hours. Where: locations across Oldham DBS: Subject to location.
Good fit if: You’re the person your family calls when the printer stops working, and you don’t mind being that person for strangers.
Youth Mentor
Turn up for the same young people, week after week.
What you’d do: Work alongside young people at our youth sessions, coding, robotics, hardware builds, digital badges, as a consistent adult they get to know. Unstick someone who’s frustrated, ask the question that gets them thinking, notice the one who’s gone quiet. Session leads handle the teaching; you build the relationship that makes it land.
What we need from you: Consistency above all. A mentor who turns up sporadically is worse than no mentor, so we ask for a regular pattern for at least 6 months. Comfort around teenagers, and the judgement to hold professional boundaries. Technical skill helps, but matters less than reliability.
Time: Flexible Where: The Shop DBS: Enhanced DBS required, arranged and funded by us, plus our safeguarding induction. Mentoring happens in session and in the open, no private messaging, no contact outside agreed activities.
Good fit if: You want to see the moment something clicks, and you’ll still be there three months later when it clicks again.
Technical, Repair & Infrastructure
Keep the kit alive.
What you’d do: Refurbish donated devices so they can go back out to people who need them. Wipe drives, reinstall systems, diagnose faults, decide what’s worth saving. Depending on your skills, there’s also network, server and build work behind the scenes.
What we need from you: Hands-on hardware or systems experience, hobbyist level is fine. Willingness to follow our data-wiping process exactly, every time, no shortcuts. We hand these machines to real people; the standard is not negotiable.
Time: Flexible. Much of this is workshop-based rather than session-tied. Where: The Shop DBS: Depends on whether you’re working alongside sessions.
Good fit if: You’ve got a drawer of spare SATA cables and you’re not ashamed of it.
Marketing & Social Media
The work is good. Not enough people know.
What you’d do: Help us tell the story properly session photography, short video, social posts, newsletter copy, case studies with the people we’ve supported. Better visibility means more residents finding us, more volunteers joining, and stronger funding applications. This is not a side job; it directly determines how many people we reach.
What we need from you: Any of: writing, photography, video editing, social scheduling, design. You don’t need all of it. Consistency beats polish, one decent post a week outperforms a perfect campaign that never ships.
Time: Flexible, largely remote. Where: Mostly remote, occasional session attendance for content. DBS: Not usually required.
Good fit if: You can turn a Tuesday afternoon into something worth reading.
We build our own tools
When the software we needed didn’t exist, we wrote it. Did This gives young people a free portfolio site to show what they’ve built. Skills Mark issues verifiable badges for the skills they pick up along the way. Both are ours, both are live, and both came out of a gap we kept hitting.
There’s always more to build. If that’s your kind of thing, say so on the form.
What’s in it for you
Straight answer, no hand-wringing:
- Real experience that stands up on an application. Session delivery, safeguarding awareness, technical work, communications, all evidenced, all referenceable.
- Digital badges. We issue verifiable badges for the skills you build with us, using the SkillsMark Open Badge Platform.
- A written reference. After 3 months, on request, from a named director.
- Training. Safeguarding, first aid, digital champion, equipment training and much more.
- Access to the workshop and kit. Within reason, and once you know the rules.
- A free portfolio site. Volunteers get an invite to Did This pick a theme, add your work, and you’ve got your own yourname.didthis.co.uk address to show builds, photography, design or writing. Free, yours to keep, and a lot more use in an interview than a line on a CV.
- People. You’ll spend time with a group who are good company and take the work seriously.