Today, we’re proud to launch our 25-year anniversary campaign, a celebration of the people and progress that have shaped SWGfL since 2000.
As we mark 25 years of SWGfL, I am immensely proud of how far we have come; from a regional broadband provider to a globally recognised leader in online safety. Our mission has always been to ensure everyone can benefit from technology free from harm. The services we’ve developed, the lives we’ve supported, and the partnerships we’ve built reflect the heart of what we do, protecting, empowering, and championing the safe and secure use of technology. As we look to the future, our commitment remains stronger than ever. We will continue to lead with innovation, compassion, and integrity to make the digital world safer for everyone.
David Wright CBE, CEO of SWGfL
Laying the Foundations
Since the beginning, SWGfL has been dedicated to building safer, more secure and more empowering digital environments for children, schools and adults. What began as one of the UK’s original Regional Broadband providers, bringing safe, filtered internet to schools across the Southwest quickly evolved into a mission that set national standards. Early guidance authored by SWGfL helped shape how education communities approach online safety, establishing precedents that continue to inform policy and practice today.
In the following decade, that groundwork blossomed into a suite of pioneering services and tools. Alongside Childnet and the Internet Watch Foundation, we co-founded the UK Safer Internet Centre and led Safer Internet Day in the UK, helping the nation rally around a shared commitment to staying safe online. We built 360 Degree Safe, now used by over half of UK schools to review and strengthen their online safety practice, and launched ProjectEVOLVE, which thousands of educators around the world rely on to build digital literacy within their classrooms.
Helplines and Support Services
Recognising that professionals needed somewhere to turn to for expert advice, we established the Professionals Online Safety Helpline (the first of its kind in the UK) to support those working with children and young people. The Revenge Porn Helpline, created in 2015, became a lifeline for adults facing intimate image abuse, while Report Harmful Content, introduced in 2019, offered a dedicated route for anyone aged 13 and over to seek help with harmful but legal content online.
The 2020s brought a step change in global impact. In 2021 we launched StopNCII.org, a ground-breaking, privacy-preserving technology that empowers people to protect themselves against the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. Supported by leading industry partners, the platform has safeguarded over a million images and has become a recognised global model for tackling NCII. Through the work of the Revenge Porn Helpline, we’ve advocated for stronger protections in law, collaborating with government to ensure legislation keeps pace with emerging threats. Today, SWGfL is widely regarded as a global thought leader in digital safeguarding, informing policy across multiple countries and serving as a consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Impact, Reach and Looking Ahead
Our impact is measured not only in milestones but in lives touched. More than half of UK schools have engaged with our tools, services and training. Across the country, 4.8 million assessments have helped chart children’s digital competencies. The Professionals Online Safety Helpline has supported over 30,000 professionals, while the Revenge Porn Helpline has stood with more than 60,000 adults navigating some of the most challenging moments of their lives. Our combined efforts contribute to a 90% takedown rate for NCII and harmful content, and along the way, our work has been recognised with over 20 awards for innovation, impact and safeguarding excellence.
As we mark this anniversary, we are also looking ahead. The digital world is evolving rapidly, and so are we. Our commitment is to stand beside those who experience online harm while anticipating new challenges and harnessing emerging technologies to meet them. We will continue expanding our reach globally and into underserved communities whilst deepening our global partnerships so that we can continue to improve protections. Above all, we will keep innovating solutions that empower people at every stage in their lives.
Celebrate With Us
This campaign is our invitation to educators, professionals, partners, parents, young people and supporters to join us in celebrating what we’ve built together and to help shape what comes next. Over the next few weeks, look out for opportunities to get involved through curated incentives, hear directly from the SWGfL team and revisit the moments that have defined our first quarter-century. We’ll bring it all together at a special event at the end of October, where we’ll reflect on the past 25 years, spotlight new ideas and set our sights on the future.
For 25 years, SWGfL has been driven by passion, powered by people and united in purpose. As we launch this anniversary journey, we reaffirm a simple promise: we will continue working to ensure that everyone can benefit from technology free from harm.
