‘We’re helping create real opportunity and lasting impact for families and communities’
Major Hull employer Quickline has scooped a national award for its pioneering work to bridge the digital divide. The Willerby rural broadband provider, which employs more than 330 people, has been named Digital Inclusion Champion at the 2025 ISPA Awards.
The trophy recognises the company’s outstanding commitment to tackling the digital divide and improving access to connectivity, skills and technology across rural and underserved communities. The high profile award also celebrates Quickline’s approach to digital inclusion, delivered through its QFutures Community Fund and partnerships with community foundations across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Over the last year Quickline has committed more than £1m to support local organisations providing digital skills training, access to equipment, STEM opportunities and programmes that build confidence and capability for those most at risk of digital exclusion.
It has worked with local organisations including Leeds Community Foundation, One Community Foundation (Kirklees), Two Ridings Community Foundation, South Yorkshire Community Foundation and the Community Foundation for Calderdale, making sure funding reaches the people and projects that need it the most.
Through a number of partnerships Quickline has supported initiatives from coding and digital literacy clubs to employability training and tech donations for jobseekers and families. Last month Quickline Communications published its new Social Value Impact Report 2024/25 which shows how it has helped 10,000 students take part in STEM and digital skills workshops, invested £450,000 in bursaries and community programmes, and also supported hundreds of jobseekers into work.
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As we have previously reported, Quickline has delivered online safety education to over 2,000 primary school children and 3,000 parents in North Yorkshire. It is currently delivering four contracts that will connect some 170,000 hard-to-reach homes and businesses across Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and the firm says its social mission goes far beyond infrastructure.
Sarah Lilleyman-Hall, social value and events manager at Quickline, said: “Digital inclusion is key to our mission. Connectivity alone doesn’t close the digital divide – people also need the skills, confidence and tools to take part in our digital world. This award is a huge honour and a testament to the partners, community foundations and local groups we work with.
“Together, we’re helping create real opportunity and lasting impact for families and communities across rural and underserved areas. This award recognises the power of our partnerships with community foundations and the difference they are making on the ground.”
Quickline will continue to expand its digital inclusion work throughout 2026 and 2027 alongside its rollout of full fibre broadband across rural Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, ensuring individuals, families and communities can benefit fully from the opportunities that digital connectivity brings.
The 2025 ISPA Awards are a national awards programme run by the Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA), the UK’s trade body for the telecommunications sector.
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