Free 12-month 02 sim cards in Birmingham, West Bromwich and Lichfield – here’s who qualifies

Six Midland stores run by a big mobile phone giant are being turned into hubs offering free 12-month sim cards to those in need. Virgin Media 02 is turning six O2 shops, including in Birmingham, West Bromwich and Lichfield, into national databank hubs.

People experiencing poverty will be handed a year-long sim card, with 25GB of data a month to help them stay connected over Christmas and into the new year. The stores are at The Fort Shopping Centre in Erdington, New Square in West Bromwich and in Lichfield city centre, along with others at Coventry’s Arena Shopping Park, Shrewsbury and Rugby’s Junction One Retail Park.

Anyone experiencing data poverty can pick up a sim card providing free web browsing for 275 hours a month, on average. They can then get access to essential websites and manage everyday tasks, such as booking medical appointments, applying for work, and online training, and can keep in touch with their loved ones over the festive period and beyond.

READ MORE: Free West Midlands Christmas bus travel offer labelled UK's 'biggest'

Virgin Media 02 said its databanks, which will be at all its stores across the UK, are like a food bank but for data. To be eligible for a free o2 sim card the recipient must:

• be 18 or over;
• be in in a low-income household;
• have no or insufficient access to the internet at home and/or
• have no or insufficient access to the internet when away from home and/or
• be unable to afford their existing monthly contract or top-up
• access the national databank for themselves and cannot collect on behalf of anyone else.

Helen Milner OBE, Group CEO at Good Things Foundation, said: “I’m delighted to see the national databank grow even larger, with six O2 stores across the West Midlands now becoming national databank digital inclusion hubs. Virgin Media O2’s work to help reduce digital exclusion now allows the databank to extend its impact to even more people and is a lifeline to those struggling to access the internet this Christmas.

“This means more people in need can access essential services and connect with loved ones. This work underpins Good Things Foundation’s ambition to help a million people benefit from the digital world by 2025. Together we can fix the digital divide for good.”

Brumwish 2024 - buy a gift for a child in need

BrumWish 2024 is Birmingham Live's festive drive to get thousands of gifts to children and young people across our city - among them the homeless, the vulnerable, kids in care, kids who are poorly or struggling, and kids who have little.

There are THREE simple ways to help.

1. Buy a new gift from the Brumwish 2024 Amazon giftlist. In just a click your donation will be whizzing its way to our volunteers at Edgbaston Stadium.
2. Donate money to the appeal fund hosted by Thrive Together Birmingham - this will help pay for gifts for kids with specialist needs or specific wishes.
3. Buy a gift and, even better, rope in friends, neighbours and workmates to do the same, then drop off your pressies at Edgbaston Stadium, Edgbaston Road, B5 7QU on Friday 6th December, 10am - 3pm; Saturday 7th December, 10am - 1pm; or Monday 9th December, 10am - 1pm. Volunteers will be there to help you. Please don't wrap your gifts. You can also drop off by arrangement until Monday 16th December - contact Louise on 07469 979286.

Thanks to our partnership with #Toys4Birmingham, every single gift will find a good home in the loving care of a child living in B&Bs or hotels, hostels or refuges, children receiving support from specialist organisations and charities, and families being supported by children's centres and charities around the city.

Making up the Brumwish and Toys4Birmingham gang are Thrive Together Birmingham, Birmingham Playcare Network, Warwickshire Cricket Foundation (the charitable arm of Warwickshire County Cricket Club), Birmingham Forward Steps and BirminghamLive/Birmingham Mail.

Thank you to Amazon UK and the amazing team at the Sutton Coldfield depot for their support.

Virgin Media O2 said its support of the National Databank built on its ‘commitment to connect a million digitally excluded people through free and affordable connectivity and services by the end of 2025’, as part of its sustainability strategy, the Better Connections Plan.

This includes its Community Calling programme with digital inclusion charity, Hubbub, which has rehomed more than 20,000 smartphones with those who need them, and its broadband and mobile social tariffs for people who receive government support payments.

Nicola Green, from Virgin Media O2, said: “By opening new national databank hubs in O2 stores across the West Midlands, we’re helping people affected by data poverty to stay in touch with their loved ones, access critical services, and be part of the digital world this Christmas and beyond.

“Virgin Media O2 is proud to be leading the way in tackling data and digital poverty across the region, where we’re building a fairer digital future for everyone.

"Whether it’s through the national databank, providing free refurbished smartphones and devices via our Community Calling programme, or our broadband and mobile plans for people on low incomes, we’re committed to helping people in need to get online and stay connected.”