The Sector Challenge Programme is part of the Catalyst and The National Lottery Community Fund COVID-19 Digital Response fund.

This programme covers seven Sector Challenges across four sectors most affected by COVID19:

• Mental health and wellbeing

1. Supportive online environments
2. Strengthening approaches for social prescribing

• Sexual abuse and domestic violence

3. Effective online counselling services for survivors

4. Creating meaningful connections

• Early years

5. Reaching digitally excluded families

6. Redefining volunteering

• Financial wellbeing

7. Claiming Universal Credit remotely

These challenges focus on problems which multiple organisations are working hard to solve.

For each challenge, ‘clusters’ of charity or civil society organisations (CSOs) working in that area will come together with a digital partner to explore solutions using digital, data and design.

The programme will be run by CAST, a technology charity, and supported by Shift, a design charity, and DOT PROJECT, a digital cooperative, who will provide support to two cause areas each.