Broadband provider Quickline is helping ensure teenagers and families facing disadvantage aren’t left digitally disconnected this Christmas, with a £15,000 donation to Cash for Kids’ Mission Christmas campaign.
The funding will support up to 300 children and families across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and has been specifically ringfenced for digital inclusion – helping provide technology and connectivity to those who might otherwise go without.
It comes as Cash for Kids highlights a particular challenge faced by its annual Mission Christmas appeal: while toys for younger children are generously donated, teenagers aged 12 to 18 can often be overlooked.
Quickline’s support will help the charity fill that gap, funding items such as headphones, mini speakers, coding kits, tablets, Wi-Fi dongles, power banks and computer accessories including keyboards and headsets.
Any funding not used for Mission Christmas gifts will be used to provide technology hampers and data packages for families fleeing domestic violence, ensuring the full £15,000 is used to help people become more digitally connected.
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.
Project Gigabit is the UK government’s programme bringing fast, reliable broadband to hard-to-reach communities that would otherwise miss out. Alongside improving connectivity, Quickline is investing in initiatives that help people access the skills, technology and opportunities they need to participate in an increasingly digital world.
Ash Cane, Social Value Executive at Quickline, said: “Being connected today is about so much more than having broadband available where you live. For children and young people in particular, access to technology can affect how they learn, communicate and participate in everyday life.
“That’s why this partnership felt like such a natural fit for us. We know Mission Christmas receives incredible support for younger children, but teenagers can be much harder to provide for and the technology they want and need isn’t cheap.
“Our £15,000 contribution will help Cash for Kids fill that gap, whether that’s putting a pair of headphones or a coding kit under the tree for a young person this Christmas, or helping a family in an incredibly difficult situation get online.
“Ultimately, it’s about making sure more children and families have the opportunity to be connected and included.”
Cash for Kids Cash for Kids East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire is a local grant-giving charity supporting disadvantaged children and young people affected by poverty, illness and neglect, as well as those living with additional needs.
Every penny raised locally stays within the region, with the charity working directly with grassroots organisations and families to reach children most in need.
Its annual Mission Christmas campaign is the UK’s largest toy appeal and aims to ensure children at risk of going without have presents to open on Christmas morning.
Last year, the campaign helped 10,218 local children receive a visit from Santa.
Laura Stead, Charity Fundraising Executive at Cash for Kids, said: “Teenagers are one of the hardest groups for us to support through Mission Christmas. We’re incredibly fortunate to receive thousands of wonderful toy donations every year, but gifts for older children are consistently one of our biggest gaps.
“Quickline’s £15,000 support will make a huge difference. It means we can provide technology and digital accessories that teenagers genuinely want and can use, while also helping children and families who may otherwise find themselves digitally excluded.
“We’re immensely grateful to Quickline for standing alongside Cash for Kids East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire for Mission Christmas 2026 and helping us make sure young people across our communities feel valued, connected and included this Christmas.”
Quickline employees will also get behind Mission Christmas through the company’s annual donation drive, with staff volunteering to help sort and pack gifts for distribution to children and families across the region.
The partnership will continue into Mission Christmas 2027, when Quickline will provide a further £15,000 of funding for digital inclusion support.