A friendly buzz in the entranceway is explained by people clustering around the computers, which are strategically placed next to the tea bar and manned by volunteers. As Lindsey Mallory explains: ‘There’s been a constant trickle of people throughout the course of the event, who’ve heard about it through the local press or because they’re regular visitors to the centre’. Learning about privacy settings on Facebook means that one grateful local man is going to be spared some blushes; others are interested in emailing, and even how to submit poems online.

IT is only one aspect of Age UK Tameside’s extensive services for local older people:  also on offer  is daycare, the First Call Handyman service, a Befriending and Buddying Service, Falls Prevention and much more. What’s important though, as Bernadette Ashcroft the MD says: ‘These services need to evolve, both in the context of a changed funding environment and also because there is a new generation of people who are reaching their sixties and seventies, with different expectations about how they’ll spend time post-retirement’.

As Doreen, who’s been laughing the whole time a volunteer has been showing her website pictures of Benidorm for a forthcoming trip says: ‘You’ve got to get up to date, haven’t you’.

Now there’s a thought that applies to all of us.

Age UK Tameside is putting on an event for Spring Online and Silver Surfers’ Day again this year. We hope that Doreen and many thousands like her will come along to one of the hundreds of local digital taster sessions taking place during 16-20 May. If you’re thinking about holding a taster session yourself or just want to find out more, visit http://www.springonline.org.

Age UK Oxfordshire’s press release to the Witney Gazette and Oxford Mail generated an amazing 42 immediate enquiries from older people keen to take advantage of the offer. Since then, word’s gone out that the sessions are fun, laid back and enjoyable: demand is now huge and the classes are currently booked out until next May with a waiting list after that.

At each class, a tutor and volunteers show people how to get to grips step by step with the computer, using Myguide,  which allows people to go at their own pace, helps them track their progress, and is free to use. At the college sessions, student volunteers also help out after school. When we visited one November afternoon, over twenty people were gathered in the college’s well-equipped and spacious IT suite, often helping each other through some of the mysteries. ‘I’m going to kill that mouse,’ says one lady. Fortunately though, no animals or equipment were harmed in the making of this blog entry.

Pat (pictured with friend Beryl) enjoys coming to the weekly sessions at the college, and now that she’s off her L-plates she’s thinking about volunteering to show other people too: ‘Silver Surfers’ Day was so much fun. I don’t have a computer at home; I come here and we all do it together. It’s a real buzz’.

Ruth Swift from Age UK Oxfordshire points out that it’s the overall picture that counts: ‘It’s also an easy format for us to check up on older people who might have other needs as well. It’s important too to see it in the context of all the activities: we’re so pleased to be working with RAF Brize Norton down the road, who for example are inviting local people to a Christmas party on the base.  The kids who contribute their time through Vinvolved also get the chance to qualify for a nationally recognised community award. So it’s good for everyone’.

If you too want to inspire older people to enjoy the benefits of being online, why not start planning your own event, during the week of national activities leading up to the tenth annual Silver Surfers’ Day  on 20 May 2011. The library at Witney in West Oxfordshire is already booked with a birthday party theme! Now’s a great time to think about venues and possible partners in your local area, and we’d love to hear about what you’re planning to do.

Here at Blenheim Court, the Get Digital scheme has enabled them to put two computers in the common room and the training is in full swing. Tutor Brian Peart  is here today running one-to-one sessions with residents. John, 67, is effusive about all the things people look for once they get the hang of being online: ‘It ranges from farm animal welfare to military history (which you’d expect with RAF Brize Norton just around the corner). It’s amazing, you can find anything on there’.  

With only about 10% of residents having their own computers, the ones in the common room offer a real opportunity for residents. The aim is that the residents will convene their own Computer Club going forward, so that the common room continues to be a hub of activity with people helping each other out to get more connected to digital technologies in a social and engaging environment.

Sam Biddle, Community Development Worker has this advice: ‘It’s easy to facilitate events: we publicised them in the newsletters, invited residents and staff to participate and were able to use the computers set up in the board room. We’ll definitely do it again. The day will be a great success if you do your research about what your organisation expects of you, get your departments on board including IT, and be clear about any costs’.

Housing schemes who want to run their own Get Digital project need  look no further: you can get access to a complete toolkit of materials for free here.

Laura Osborne, aged 90, said: “The schoolchildren are absolutely fantastic.  They’re so polite and very intelligent – they’ve taught us a lot!  Coming down and using one of the computers makes life less lonely, it’s good company.  You can explore and find out different things, it’s very interesting.”

The learning in the scheme has been made possible via the Get Digital programme. It is so heartening to see it in action: we thoroughly recommend having a look at what went on.

Do you have stories and outcomes from your events? Let us know!

Valerie is the amazing welsh grandmother who’s is incredibly actively involved with intergenerational work, in her Learning with Grandma initiative.

She’s off to Lyon on 29 Nov to take part in a seminar about encouraging older volunteers, and from there goes on to Paris, where she is speaking in the opening session of a major event, about how younger people can help older people become comfortable with using the internet and new technologies, but just as importantly, making this learning a two-way street, so that traditional skills are not lost with the passage of time and the march of progress.

All due respect to Valerie, and we look forward to hearing further about her adventures!

First up, here’s our tutor Andrew Bailey on BBC Radio Stoke. Brian Eisenburg was lyrical both on ITV Daybreak as well as BBC Three Counties (2 hours 10mins in) (well done for the double, Brian!). And one of Lynne Thompson’s residents in the Get Digital scheme has a star turn on BBC Northampton (31 mins in).

Did you know already about the Airlie Silver Surfers’ remote health consultation project, about the fact that half of women over 55 are on Facebook, and even the Independent has noticed that Peggy Archer has been learning to surf the web? We’ve got the Daily Mail giving us tips about saving money online, and our own Get Digital programme is also in the news.

It’s fantastic to see all this publicity and coverage, and we’d still like to give the last word to Nancy, a resident on on of our Get Digital schemes – “[The Internet] is the kind of thing that if you don’t get a handle on, you’re going to be lost in this world. I’ve been dying to get computers. My family and grandchildren are all in America and they have Skype and a webcam and I can talk to them. It’s just opened up a whole world.”

Go Nancy!

As you can see from the glamorous themed T-shirts, the scheme is also supporting Get Online week (18 – 24 October), a national event to help people of all ages get started with computers and the internet, with free events across the country.

Ciara Mcmillan, community and partnerships manager from DDH, said: “Currently just one third of older tenants in Britain have access to the internet, so schemes like this are essential to making online resources more accessible and improving facilities across our schemes. The internet can make it easier to stay connected, saving time and sometimes money, and can be a lifeline for older people.”

The training runs alongside ‘silver surfer’ web sessions hosted by Abbey Junior School, Vicar Lane, where 10 and 11 year olds have been helping over 60s to use search engines to find websites for their favourite hobbies.

If you’ve got stories and pictures about what you’ve done during Get Online Week, why not contact us and we’ll shine a light on your successes!

Rory Cellan-Jones was also talking to John Humprhys on Today, with a clip of Peggy Woolsey from The Archers and Martha Lane Fox talking about the importance of the campaign as social justice.

There’s a lot going on for this year’s Get Online Week!

The process of judging the events was far from easy. Chair of the judging panel was Dick Stroud, well-known author, lecturer and adviser on all things to do with the 50+ market. The criteria for judging included whether the event demonstrated real change in the lives of older people and their helpers, and was original, fun and creative, as well as other aspects such as whether it showed successful working in partnership on limited funds, and where younger people were involved as well. One final important criteria was whether the stories of the day would potentially inspire other people to run events themselves in the future. See if you agree from the links below!

All the shortlisted finalists rated very highly on these criteria as you would expect! The winning entries are:

Winner: Cottsway Housing Association with Age UK Oxfordshire:  more details here

Joint runners up: Southampton City Council Supported Housing: more details here and Age Concern Tameside: more details here.

Shortlisted: Andover Neighbourcare, Citizens Online (City of London),  Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust (Cheshire),  Learning for the Fourth Age (Leicester),  Simpson Primary School (West Lothian), Thurrock Council for Voluntary Service and the Walsall Housing Group.

Huge congratulations to our winners for their brilliant work! Mark your diaries now for Silver Surfers’ Day 2011 on May 20^th, and watch this space for some interesting forthcoming news about how we are looking to make the campaign bigger, better and more appealing for even more people.

Congratulations to Cottsway Housing Association and Age UK Oxfordshire for winning the Silver Surfers’ Day 2010 Best Event award.

When/where was event held?

Cottsway Housing Association, May 2010.

What did you do?

We decided to do a Hawaiian theme to ensure the day was light-hearted and fun. We delivered the project along with Age UK Oxfordshire, who provided helpers and IT support, as well as advice on what other courses/groups people could attend in the local area. We invited our residents and other local older people to come along dressed up in Hawaiian outfits and they were greeted with Hawaiian garlands at our offices. Our staff helped out too with advice and help and for many it was the first time they had worked with older residents. We turned one of boardrooms into a beach shack with ‘Blue Hawaii’ playing in the background offering our residents a rest from the computers in a relaxing atmosphere. Many participants did bring out their Hawaiian shirts and we gave out a pineapple and a coconut as prizes to the best dressed male and female. A special mention to one of our older residents who arrived in an authentic grass skirt! We invited everyone along to a Hawaiian style lunch with ‘Hula Hula’ chicken, ribs and fruit cocktails. We had some excellent sixth form students come along from the local secondary school. They had so much patience and worked so well with our older residents. Our residents’ confidence was visibly boosted at the end of the sessions!

We have never done a Silver Surfers event before, but we certainly will in the future! Our feedback from residents was fantastic and many residents have signed up for future courses with Age UK. All in all we had a great day and we are very thankful that we got so many freebies to give out on the day.

How many people participated?

30 people took part.

What was your favourite event story?

We had one gentleman who today had sent his first email and then was going to go away and buy himself a laptop, he signed upto one of Age UK’s free courses. He wants to Skype and email his son in Fort Lauderdale in America. We had a lady who was so upset and started to cry when she sat in front of the computer, it was so daunting for her. We sat with her and at the end of the day she had such a huge smile on her face! She too has signed up for a further Age UK course. One older couple brought along their laptop to have our IT Technicians have a look, he was more than happy to help offer his services!

What have you taken away from the day?

I for one will take away the knowledge that we have made a huge difference to 30 older residents today and I cannot wait to see what next year brings! Our staff are still talking about the people they met today and I am sure the stories will continue!

Contact: Sam Biddle, Cottsway Housing and Ruth Swift, Age UK Oxfordshire

For more information about all the winners, see here.