Free broadband boost for Wrexham community centre to mark Virgin Media’s major connectivity milestone

The Venture community centre in Wrexham is celebrating after receiving a free broadband boost from Virgin Media.

Virgin Media is providing free ultrafast broadband to the centre to mark its milestone of connecting 20,000 homes and businesses across Wrexham to its network.

The free broadband will help The Venture – which sits at the heart of the Wrexham community – with the running of key community services, such as education programmes and youth work where children and young people can get online to support their studies or for applying for jobs.

Earlier in the year, as part of its partnership with the charity Business in the Community, Virgin Media also supplied The Venture with 15 laptops and mobile data dongles to help local schoolchildren and young adults take part in online learning at the centre.

Last week, Member of the Senedd for Wrexham, Lesley Griffiths, visited The Venture to see how the broadband boost is having a lasting and positive impact on the community. During the visit, Ms Griffiths was joined by Tony Reddington, Virgin Media’s Programme & Delivery Director, who spoke about company’s rollout of broadband services in Wrexham, and she unveiled a commemorative plaque.

Lesley Griffiths, Member of the Senedd for Wrexham, said: “As a proud patron of The Venture, I’m delighted the Centre is benefiting from Virgin Media’s ultrafast broadband service.

“Access to fast, reliable broadband is essential in this day and age.  The Venture has helped countless children over the past four decades and I know improving connectivity will have a major, positive impact not just on the children who will use the services in the coming years, but also to the families and the wider community.”

Connecting Wrexham to ultrafast broadband

As part of Virgin Media’s Project Lightning network expansion programme, 20,000 premises in Wrexham now have access to the UK’s fastest widely available broadband network – with further expansion planned for 2022.

Virgin Media has invested more than £12 million to connect homes and businesses in Wrexham and has also been expanding and upgrading its network throughout Wales. By the end of 2021, all homes already connected will have access to its Gig1 service – offering gigabit speeds 28 times faster than the local average.

Tony Reddington, Programme & Delivery Director of the Central Region at Virgin Media, said:

“As we reach our latest major milestone in Wrexham, we are not only celebrating our continued investment in the town but our commitment to the local community.

“Whether it’s through expanding our network to thousands more homes and businesses, connecting The Venture community centre to free ultrafast broadband or helping provide technology to those who really need it, we’re using our next generation services for good at a time when they have never been more important.”

Notes to Ed

*The average (median) broadband speed in Wrexham is 40Mbps. Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations Report 2020, published 17 December 2020.