WaveLength

WaveLength is the UK's oldest loneliness charity, founded by the BBC and the Rotary Club of St Pancras in 1939.[1] The purpose of the charity is to provide radios, TVs, and tablets for isolated people living in poverty - usually the elderly, disabled or those who are chronically ill. More recently, the charity has given equipment to centres helping victims of domestic violence and refugees who have suffered torture. WaveLength believes that technology plays a crucial role in facilitating connections between people. Even when there is no one else around, a radio or TV can be a friendly voice in an empty room and a window to the world. WaveLength is the first charity to have its own Theme Tune, which was released in October 2011.[2]

The charity was founded after Charles Stonebridge gave an address to his local Rotary Club in 1938, following a recent visit to Manchester where he had spoken to an organisation there which was providing radios (wirelesses) for people of limited means. The Rotary Club joined forces with the BBC to found a charity helping similar people living in London, the Greater London Society Providing Wirelesses for the Bedridden. Key founding members included HG Brewster, AJ Pilgrim, FW Lovell, C Stonebridge, W Cady and the BBC’s John Underdown.[3] By 1953, the Rev. Alfred Pilgrim was the only original founding member still involved with the society. He remained on the board until his death in 1968 and received an MBE in recognition of his work, becoming the driving force within the charity. In his obituary in the charity’s newsletter, editors wote that he hated all unhappiness and suffering and "strongly believed that the well-being of each should be the concern of all."[4]

The society went into hibernation during the Second World War and re-emerged in 1945. In 1946, it changed its name to Wireless for the Bedridden Society to reflect that it planned to extend its services to the whole of the United Kingdom.[5] The charity remained based in central London until 1979 before moving to Upminster in Essex and then to its current headquarters in Hornchurch, Essex. Traditionally, WaveLength has had the Archbishop of Canterbury as its president.

As its original name became outdated, the charity became known as W4B. In 2010, the charity took on the larger name of ‘WaveLength’. WaveLength incorporates the digital, as well as analogue devices that it provides, and a possible expansion into internet provision.[6]

WaveLength has worked with Women's Aid to give TVs, radios, and DVD players to domestic violence refuges across the country. It also provides TVs to centres helping victims of torture.

Alongside the gift of technology, the charity also aims to provide a voice to vulnerable people through advocacy. WaveLength has been involved in several consumer forums including the Consumer Expert Group, and has testified before the House of Lords on the UK’s digital switchover plans.[7]

Representatives of the BBC, UTV, the Rotary Club, and the charity's sister organisation Wireless for the Blind, sit as trustees on the charity's board.

As of 2014, the charity had started providing tablet computers to lonely and isolated people living in poverty, as well as radios and TVs.

In 2017, WaveLength and the BBC collaborated to protect women and men living in Domestic Abuse refuges. The rules affecting television licenses in refuges had long been unclear and impractical. The policy change meant that everyone living in a refuge is now covered by one communal license. Refuges are now eligible for the same rules as hospitals and hotels, which allow all residents to share one licence regardless of how long they stay or how many residents there are at once. By changing this policy, more abuse survivors can benefit from a TV of their own during their time in refuge.

Technology and loneliness: Many people are concerned about The Big Disconnect; the idea that the media is making us more antisocial and less engaged with the people around us. WaveLength's research shows that technology makes their beneficiaries happier and feel less lonely - and that technology does not cause loneliness. This research, undertaken in partnership with the University of York, illustrated that technology can help to improve people's physical and mental wellbeing, from young people, to elderly people - and everyone in between.[8]

Digital exclusion: WaveLength supports measures that will help to reduce digital exclusion and believe that Internet access is a utility, not a luxury. There should be minimum access for everyone, but just because a service is online does not mean it is accessible. While some digitally excluded people can be helped to access the Internet, there are some for whom such measures simply won't work. For people living with visual impairment, dyslexia, Alzheimer's disease, illiteracy, or mobility impairments, using a computer or accessing information from the Internet can be difficult and time-consuming. There is a careful balance to be met, by the Government and all public services. It is important to retain public-facing services, giving people the option to interact with a human, rather than pushing all services online. By moving information, advice, and services online, the Government risks further leaving behind those who cannot access the Internet for reasons of poverty, disability, or illiteracy.

In 2011 WaveLength became the first UK charity to have its own ringtone theme tune, or 'audible signature'.[9] This was created and donated by Andy Cato of Groove Armada. Cato calls music the 'universal language', and says that he created the ringtone because it was a chance to make a 'specific contribution' to a cause. The tune 'conveyed a sense of hopefulness. It was then a question of adding a melody, which has the potential to be emblematic in a short space of time.'[10]