It was through Marlborough News Online that Gerry Young first found out about Wiltshire Council’s Digital Literacy scheme. Last October we reported that the scheme was coming soon to the Marlborough area.
Gerry has now been appointed by Wiltshire Online as the scheme’s volunteer coordinator for the Marlborough area – and he is on the look-out for volunteer Digital Champions.
With the Wiltshire Online team, he is seeking five Digital Champions to start supporting residents in the practicalities of using internet connected computers. You do not have to have a degree in IT, but you do need to know your way around computers and the internet.
Gerry told Marlborough News Online: “The idea is to cover problems such as setting up email for the first time, using office packages such as Microsoft Office or the freely available alternatives such as LibreOffice or OpenOffice.”
“Typically people have issues with setting up their wireless networks for the first time, shopping online, or setting up a Skype account to make intercontinental video calls to family and friends.”
Gerry hopes to find five Digital Champions for this area – the poster calling for volunteer Champions is below. Anyone interested in helping with this scheme can email digitalinclusion@wiltshire.gov.uk or telephone 01225 793349.
The service is totally free, but there are limitations to what these Digital Champions can do. They will not be involved in adding memory or changing disks, or installing new operating systems or hardware. Problems beyond the scope of the Digital Literacy teams are filtered out by Wiltshire Online. Instead callers will be given the names of some appropriate professional computer support organisations.
Gerry Young lives at the heart of the area – near the High Street. He trained as an engineer and has spent the last ten years in technical sales. He now teaches three days a week at Wiltshire College – and will be coordinating the work of the Champions.
The great thing about the scheme is that assistance can be given at a time that is convenient to both the volunteer and the learner. It generally involves one-to-one sessions either at a library, wi-fi enabled café or in people’s homes.
In addition, St John’s Academy is seeing whether use could be made of their IT suites – out of school hours.
Wiltshire Online has made a commitment to help at least 6,000 adults across Wiltshire get on line by March 2016. And as more and more government and council services rely on online access, it is becoming crucial for people whatever their age to get connected to the internet.
Wiltshire Online insists that you must not be afraid to suggest to an elderly relative that they should use the Digital Champions to help them. Just listen to 86 year-old grandmother Betty. She needed a bit of help – given at a speed she could cope with – to get herself proficient with the internet. And listen to the end or you’ll miss how she became a member of the digital age.
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