Anchor invests in Wi-Fi to enhance residents’ lives

Anchor is partnering with specialist connectivity provider, Wifinity, to provide Wi-Fi across the majority of its locations.

Anchor is investing in its Wi-Fi infrastructure in offices and communal spaces. The initiative across almost 1,700 housing locations and care homes will enable colleagues to work more efficiently and support the ongoing modernisation and transformation of how it delivers services.

It also benefits most tenants in their individual properties; supporting residents to use the internet to access public services and banking, keeping in touch with family members and friends and for entertainment and online shopping, if residents choose to sign up.

There is strong evidence pointing to the need for better connectivity, and the challenges for older people in getting online. A report from Age UK in 2023 highlighted how many older people were struggling to access public services due to a shift in how to access them. The Centre for Ageing Better notes that “while factors such as income and levels of education play a part, age is still the biggest indicator of who’s digitally excluded”.

Service rollout has begun, and hundreds of residents are already connected. Anchor is covering most of the costs of connecting properties as well as a large part of the ongoing charges as part of the organisation’s investment in driving efficiencies in how it works. So far over 200 sites have been connected by Wifinity, with residents benefitting from access to the internet to help them shop online, keep in touch with family and access services. 

In addition to connecting residents through Wifinity, Anchor’s Be Well service provides a range of ways to support residents’ wellbeing, both online and off, and the investment in Wi-Fi will provide opportunities for more residents to get involved in the service. As part of Be Well, Be Digital provides digital support to residents who enroll - helping them to get and stay connected with loved ones and to upskill their digital capabilities. 

Ivan Schooner, who lives at Anchor’s Limetree Court in Doncaster, said,

Getting online has made a big difference in my life, as I can now FaceTime my daughter who lives far away. It’s so much more meaningful to see her face rather than just hear her voice over the phone. This project has had a huge positive impact on our community, and many of us even took a digital skills course to build our confidence, which was made possible by having access to Wi-Fi in our communal lounge.

Anchor Chief Executive Sarah Jones said:

The connectivity will enable Anchor to support colleagues with technology and systems to enhance every aspect of the service that residents receive. It will bring enormous benefits for residents, whether they are online or not, and will help us to address the serious issue of digital poverty. Crucially, along with our adoption of the Plentific platform to manage repairs and planned works and our wider digital and data strategy, it enables more modern, efficient ways of ensuring residents have safe, well-maintained homes.

We chose to partner with Wifinity because they could deliver at the scale and pace we required. By providing our corporate network for colleagues and building management systems while also having taken the time to really understand and meet our residents’ needs, Wifinity are driving cost saving by doing more with the same kit, all of which is improving the lives of our residents.

Costas Demetriou, CEO of Wifinity, said,

We are delighted we were selected by Anchor to be a part of this digital transformation. The scale and ambition of this programme is huge and will make such a difference to so many people. As well as the installation, we are supporting residents to be active online and be able to access vital services such as video consultations with health professionals, ordering prescriptions and calls with families. 

Helping Anchor residents access the internet means they are able to contact public services and savings they might not otherwise see. Our partnership with Wifinity is allowing hundreds more residents to access this support.