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Publishers unite in bid to bring free internet to disadvantaged homes

Regional publishers have united in a bid to help bring free internet to disadvantaged households.

Reach plc and Newsquest titles have joined the Cash for Connectivity appeal, which has been launched by the former’s hyperlocal news service In Your Area.

The appeal is calling on all readers across the north to help raise £1.2 million to provide free internet access to 100,000 disadvantaged households across Northern England.

Its launch has been sparked by the Laptops for Kids campaign, which was started up in September by JPIMedia daily The Star, in Sheffield, in a bid to help provide computers for disadvantaged children during the coronavirus lockdown.

Connected fronts

The appeal has featured on the front page of a number of regional titles in the North of England this week, pictured above.

Ed Walker, In Your Area editor-in-chief and audience and content director for Reach’s regional titles, said: “Both InYourArea and our regional titles across the North of England are all about connecting our communities.

“Our journalists have been inundated by messages from those struggling with homeschooling, and many of us feel that pressure too with children at home at the moment.

“I am proud to lead InYourArea and Reach’s regional titles across the North in uniting to urge our readers to help us make a real difference, and quickly, to many.”

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