Across Europe this quarter, 240,742 people walked through the doors of a Digital Hub and left with something they didn’t have before — a skill, a connection, a clearer sense of what comes next.
Some came looking for work. Some came to support their children’s futures. Some came because a neighbour told them it was worth it. Whatever brought them in, what the HP / YMCA Digital Hub network offered was the same: a trusted local space, real support, and a genuine pathway forward.
578 active hubs. 44,688 hours of programming. 224,215 young people and adults engaged. The numbers are significant — but they only point to what matters. Behind each one is a person who decided that today was the day to try.
Three Years in the Making
When HP and YMCA Europe came together three years ago, the vision was straightforward but ambitious: create locally grounded digital spaces across Europe where young people, adults, and communities could access the skills and opportunities they needed to thrive.
What has followed is a network that has grown steadily — in size, in depth, and in the confidence of the communities it serves. This year has been about pushing that growth further: opening new hubs, deepening existing partnerships, and investing in the people who make local impact possible.
Each quarter, hubs across the network share what they have seen and experienced on the ground. This article brings together those voices from February to May — a snapshot of a network that is maturing, expanding, and proving its value in ways that go far beyond what any single metric can capture.
What this Quarter Showed
Across 578 active Digital Hubs, 44,688 hours of programming were delivered between February and May. More than 224,000 young people and adults showed up — not just to learn how to use a device, but to change the direction of their lives. In total, 240,742 people were reached across the network.
Behind those numbers are parents returning to the workforce. Young people discovering they have something to offer. Entrepreneurs finding the confidence to take their first real step. The scale is significant. But it is the stories within the scale that reveal what the network is truly becoming.
People at the Centre
What makes this network different is who it serves — and how.
This quarter, 11,928 entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs received support to build and grow their ideas. 3,538 educators were engaged, equipping them to carry digital skills into classrooms and communities far beyond the hub walls. And 1,061 youth workers — the people who show up every day for young people — were reached and strengthened in their practice.
These are not passive participants. They are multipliers. Every educator who gains confidence with digital tools brings those skills to the students they serve.
Every youth worker who understands the digital landscape is better equipped to open doors for the young people in their care.
Growing Where It Matters
Three years of learning what works has sharpened how the network grows. Expansion this quarter was not simply about adding locations — it was about adding the right ones, in the right way.
New Digital Hubs opened in Malta, Italy, Romania, and the UK, each rooted in new local partnerships and shaped around the specific needs and aspirations of its community. Because a hub only works if it feels close enough to use and strong enough to trust.
That means being present in the right neighbourhoods, in the right languages, with the right people at the door. Each opening this quarter reflected that discipline — a commitment to relevance, not just reach.
Investing in the People Who Make It Possible
The most durable impact is built by the people closest to it. That is why this quarter included dedicated investment in the local teams — the facilitators, coordinators, and hub leaders — who turn strategy into lived experience every single day.
Workshops in Ireland, Scotland, and Ukraine focused on building the confidence, consistency, and capability of these teams. When local leaders grow, everything they touch grows with them.
The goal is not a network of well-run programmes. It is a network of communities with the tools and the belief to lead their own futures.
Resilience, Innovation, and What Becomes Possible
Perhaps the most telling proof of the model came from its least expected settings.
In Ukraine and Georgia, Digital Hubs continued to operate and deliver through disruption and uncertainty — the kind of pressure that tests whether something is real. They are. The hubs held. Communities gathered. Learning continued. In moments when trusted spaces matter most, the hubs showed up.
At the other end of the spectrum, the VEX Robotics Competition in Belgium offered a glimpse of what becomes possible when young people are given the tools, the encouragement, and the permission to reach further.
In Thessaloniki, a new hub launched in partnership with HP Greece — part of a deepening collaboration with HP teams across Europe that is turning the network into a genuine platform where learning, partnership, and opportunity meet.
What Three Years of Growth Looks Like
What the hubs reported back this quarter is not just progress — it is momentum. The network is growing in the right direction: toward communities that are harder to reach, toward people with less of a head start, toward futures that feel more possible than they did before.
Every hub strengthened is a community better equipped. Every partnership activated is a door held open for someone who might otherwise have found it closed. Every person reached carries something forward — a skill, a connection, an idea — that did not exist for them before.
That is what digital equity looks like in practice. Not a programme. Not a metric. A movement — three years in, and still growing.
