Giving ‘The Gift of Connection’ this festive season

Technology can help ensure no one feels left behind over the festive season. Here are some of the ways Vodafone has been working to keep customers, families and communities connected across our markets in Europe.

Tackling loneliness in Hungary

As many as one in ten people in Hungary are frequently lonely, according to a report by the European Commission. More than a million people in the country live alone, and over 550,000 elderly people across the country will spend Christmas by themselves this year.

Vodafone is working to tackle the challenge of loneliness in Hungary over the festive season. Working in partnership with the Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta, Vodafone has been donating free devices and connectivity for elderly people around the country to support communication with friends and family.

Vodafone is also encouraging people across Hungary to join them in making a call or video call to others that might be lonely this Christmas.

Connectivity and entertainment bundles for flood victims in Germany

The Ahr Valley in Germany was badly affected by flooding in July this year as torrential rains caused the Ahr River to swell and spill over its banks. Countless homes were damaged or destroyed.

Aktion Deutschland Hilft, a relief coalition set up to provide communities with help after natural disasters, has been working with partners to build 180 ‘tiny homes’ to provide temporary accommodation for families impacted by the floods.

Vodafone is providing connectivity for homes in the area

Vodafone is donating GigaCubes – portable wireless routers that convert mobile networks into WiFi – to the project and providing each home with a year’s worth of free connectivity.

Vodafone is also providing Giga TV to help keep those families entertained over the festive season.

On tour: the ‘Smallest Christmas Market Worldwide’

Vodafone has also been visiting care homes, homes for children and other community projects in Germany with the ‘Smallest Christmas Market Worldwide’, a festive food truck providing hot meals and festive treats for people in need. The market has also stopped to serve people queuing at vaccination centres.

‘The Smallest Christmas Market Worldwide’

The project has received support from professional footballer and World Cup winner, Mario Götze, who visited a home for children with the market.

Footballer Mario Götze signing autographs from the market

Giving ‘The Gift of Connection’ in the UK, Greece and Czech Republic

Vodafone is encouraging people in the UK to donate devices they no longer use as part of its Great British Tech Appeal, where they are repurposed and given to the people that need them most, along with free data, calls and text.

The campaign has helped around 8,000 families in need across the UK so far, but there are still around 1.5 million homes without internet access.

Vodafone is also running a similar campaign in Greece, working with SOS Children’s Villages Greece to provide children in need with devices and connectivity.

And in the Czech Republic, Vodafone is encouraging people to help teach their elderly peers how to use smartphones and tablets. The campaign builds on work by the Vodafone Foundation to support elderly people in the country with digital skills training as part of its SkillsUpload Europe programme.

Highlighting the impact of rural connectivity in Ireland

In a year where many have needed to work remotely or live away from home, Vodafone networks have helped keep people connected. In Ireland, Vodafone’s festive campaign focuses on the benefits mobile and fixed connectivity can bring to rural communities across the country.