Independent broadband provider Quickline has partnered with careers platform Springpod to give hundreds of young people and jobseekers across South and West Yorkshire access to digital skills, careers support and real-world work experience.
The partnership will provide 30 schools and colleges with access to Springpod’s Ignite programme, alongside 250 micro-internship opportunities for school, college and university learners and adult jobseekers.
The partnership forms part of Quickline’s social value commitments through Project Gigabit and its wider commitment to tackling digital exclusion – helping spread opportunity to every postcode in the UK.
In South Yorkshire, 30 schools and colleges will receive access to Ignite, Springpod’s careers and employability platform, giving students opportunities to explore different industries, undertake virtual work experience and develop practical employability and digital skills.
Designed for students from Year 9 to Year 13, the programme helps prepare young people for work experience and future employment, with access to industry insights, structured employability modules, digital skills development and more than 150 virtual work experience and study opportunities.
Alongside this, 150 micro-internship places will be made available in South Yorkshire, with a further 100 in West Yorkshire. The four-week micro-internships go beyond traditional online learning by asking participants to tackle real challenges set by employers.
Each involves around 40 hours of learning and practical experience, combining training with a real employer-led project. Participants ultimately produce a report and presentation setting out their proposed solution, before receiving feedback, a grade and a certificate recognising their achievement.
Quickline will help bring the experience to life through bespoke employer challenges based around issues facing businesses and communities today.
These include exploring how artificial intelligence could be used to address a social or environmental challenge; finding new ways for businesses to maximise their social value; developing ideas for lower-carbon communities; and making it easier for people to find and access local support.
Elisabeth Kamaris, Social Value Lead for South Yorkshire at Quickline, said: “Bringing fast, reliable broadband to communities is hugely important, but connectivity alone doesn’t create opportunity. People also need the skills, confidence and experience to make the most of an increasingly digital world.
“That’s what makes this partnership with Springpod so exciting. We’re giving young people and jobseekers opportunities to develop practical skills and experience the type of challenges they could encounter in the workplace, wherever they’re starting from.
“The micro-internships are particularly valuable because participants won’t simply be learning about work. They’ll be tackling real-world problems, developing solutions and demonstrating what they can do.
“Through our work delivering Project Gigabit, we’re helping bring fast, reliable broadband to communities that might otherwise miss out. But it’s about more than connectivity. Partnerships like this help people develop the skills and experience they need to access new career opportunities and build their futures locally.”
Project Gigabit is the UK government’s rollout of fast, reliable broadband across the UK, targeting homes and businesses that broadband companies’ commercial plans would not otherwise reach. Social value commitments are built into the programme, supporting job creation, workforce training, apprenticeships and education within local communities.
Through its partnership with Springpod, Quickline is helping put that commitment into practice, giving young people and jobseekers across South and West Yorkshire opportunities to develop skills, gain real-world experience and prepare for future employment.
The programme is designed to support people at different stages of their education and careers, including school, college and university students, adult learners and people not currently in education, employment or training.
Sam Hyams, CEO of Springpod, said: “Talent is everywhere, but access to meaningful work experience and career opportunities isn’t always equal. This partnership with Quickline is about helping to change that by giving young people and jobseekers across South and West Yorkshire the chance to build practical skills, explore different careers and gain experience of tackling real challenges set by employers.
“The combination of Ignite and our micro-internships means participants can go beyond simply learning about the world of work. They can develop their confidence and digital skills, put what they’ve learned into practice and come away with tangible experience they can talk about in an application or interview.
“We’re delighted to be working with Quickline to open up those opportunities to more people across the region and help them feel better prepared for whatever their next step might be.”
The first Ignite licence activations and the joint Quickline and Springpod microsite are targeted for November 2026, with the micro-internship programme also expected to go live in late October or early November.