The Digital Unite Blog

We were interested to read a report this week that only a quarter of people aged over 55 years bank online. The research, released by PayYourway.org.uk, showed that whilst 71% of users aged over 55 feel confident about making online transactions, only one in four (25%) had tried managing their money through online banking.

Earlier this year, we were told by our own sample of internet users aged over 55 that for 86% being online has improved their lives with a key reason being that they can do things quicker (71%). Long queues at banks or the hassle and cost of posting cheques can be easily avoided with the click of a button.

However we also know that for many security fears and identify theft as a result of internet transactions is still a major concern and the thought of laying personal account details to bear on a computer screen is probably a step too far right now.

People also still want and need the interaction with service providers and a trip to their bank, for which many have a well-worn relationship, can fulfil that desire. Certainly at Digital Unite we don’t believe the internet should be an exclusive tool that negates the need for human contact but should instead be used to enhance day-to-day living.

That said as the modern age is increasingly demanding and incentivising people to engage with products and services in a cost-effective and time-efficient way being online is becoming an essential requirement for everyone. And here’s where organisations such as ours come in.

Having worked with the over 55s for the last 15 years we know that the process of engagement isn’t one that can be hurried or enforced – a slow, measured and supportive approach is essential to ensure that once older people experience life online they remain interested and willing to explore further. Maybe that’s through supporting self-learning, or through providing tuition, local support or formally trained mentors, one size certainly does not fit all.

Our research sample also told us that being online makes them feel more like part of modern society (81%). More work at both a national and local level must be done to ensure many other thousands of older people not yet using the internet have the chance to feel like that too.

Alan Pollard, Digital Unite Tutor amongst other incarnations, is our guest blogger today, with news from a distant land… here are his own words:

‘I have been very fortunate to have been invited to give a talk about Digital Inclusion to the second ICT Symposium in Trinidad.  I am writing this from the venue in Port of Spain – the capital of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).  Yes; I know; it’s rough but someone’s got to do it!

‘My invitation to speak arose a year ago when I was President of the British Computer Society and had contacts with  members all around the world. Planning came to fruition and the Symposium took place from 14-16^th November.  About 300 delegates from all over the Caribbean met to hear about progress being made in the Caribbean and in Trinidad in the application of ICT to the public and private sectors.  Trinidad is not a backward island by any means. Situated only a few miles from Venezuela, T&T benefits from access and rights to vast resources of oil and natural gas. It also has the world’s largest deposits of asphalt.  Unlike the majority of the Caribbean islands its principal source of income is therefore not based on tourism but on energy, banking and investment.

‘T&T also has a thriving telecommunications and IT industry and is well up in the league table of Caribbean countries with respect to internet access and mobile phone usage.  However, it exhibits the same problems and challenges as UK in reaching out to the under-privileged and poorly-connected element of the population.  Much is being done to reduce the Digital Divide and the numbers of those who are excluded.

‘I was able to describe the work of Digital Unite and our approach to the older generation.  My talk seemed to go down well and there were choruses of agreement at all the issues I raised and recognition of exactly the same challenges being faced.  They too have a longer life expectancy and ever-increasing numbers of older people.  Many of their inhabitants are poor fisher-folk and they find it hard to convince them of the benefits – or even the need – for the internet.  Yet, with Government services being delivered on line more and more, the time will come when some form of connectivity – even the most basic – might be essential.

‘As in UK, the older generation in T&T are proud and therefore reluctant to show their ignorance by attending computer classes.  T&T have just launched the award-winning TT Connect, which is a suite of services for online government.  One of these – the latest – was unveiled at our conference by the Prime Minster. It is called TT Connect Express and is a fleet of buses kitted out with work stations, wash rooms, disabled access and human assistance which will tour the islands much like a mobile library. Recognising that education in early years is essential to building a technology aware population, the Government has funded one laptop per child nationwide.

‘The short stay demonstrated to me that the issues we face in UK with digital exclusion – in particular among the older generation – are no different to those over here and, I guess, are the same the whole world over’.

Sounds like people are people everywhere! A big thank you to Alan for letting us all know what he’s been up to (tough assignment that it clearly was). 

Have you been involved with digital inclusion in other countries? Does the story look the same or different to you? We’d be interested to hear your comments.

Delegates from across England will attend the innovative See IT in Action event in Bethnal Green on 6 October – getting their hands on and discussing new ways of using technology to make services better and more efficient.

The event features over 40 ‘market stalls’ demonstrating tried and tested new ways of using IT to deliver services in health, housing, social care, education and community safety; all of which are enabled by readily available IT tools and resources.

See IT in Action, supported by the City of London, Communities and Local Government, local authorities and civil society partners, provides a first-hand opportunity to see how local government is using IT projects to save money and improve service delivery day-in, day-out, demonstrating localism the Big Society not just conceptually, but in practice.

Digital Unite is featured at this conference in two interesting ways: first, our very own Pete Deadman will be running a workshop on how the Get Digital programme has worked in practice, showcasing the benefits to landlords, schemes and residents when they make the leap online; and secondly, the tension is visibly mounting because we’re due to announce the winners of the 2010 Silver Surfers’ Day Best Event.

So come and visit us on 6 October in the marketplace, and watch this space for news about who won the big prize!

Get Digital is on the move!

Click the link above to watch a video about one of the first schemes to Get Digital! Wakeford Court, which is one of three Testway Housing Association schemes involved in the Get Digital Scheme. Wakefield Court is one of the first 25 programmes to get underway which are London and South East but applications are still open in the North of England for the first round of funding.

Get Digital is open to social  landlords in England who manage sheltered housing schemes. It is funded by Communities and Local Government (CLG) and will run until March 2011.  The project will work directly in 195 schemes and online via the Get Digital website with a further 300 during this time. Successful applicants will receive a package of grants, training and support to promote, deliver and sustain digital literacy skills for their residents.

For more information about the Get Digital scheme, click here.

If you are a tutor Get Digital are currently recruiting and would like to hear from people with experience especially if you are from the North of England, Lincolnshire and Cornwall.

An amazing year for Silver Surfers Day 2010 saw a whopping 50% increase in events being run all over the UK.

From ‘Computers for the Terrified’ at Newlyn Cornwall to the Silver City Surfers from Aberdeen there were 1,600 events on or around the 21st May, with an estimated 32,000 participants. The campaign to give over 55′s a day which is all about what they are interested in learning about the digital world has had its greatest year yet.

Thanks go to Sir Terry Wogan and Dame Vera Lynn who were our ambassadors this year and helped up get an unprecedented amount of media coverage which we are currently totalling. The BBC support meant that not only did we get coverage of Silver Surfers Day on a large number of their regional stations and The Jeremy Vine Show but also were centre stage on the BBC 1 Breakfast Sofa and an item on Working Lunch.

We saw more primary and secondary schools taking part in the growing ranks of ‘Schools for Silver Surfers’ initiative. Simpson Primary School in Bathgate West Lothan is a new school taking part this year who have organised a day for their community with the pupils from the age of 7 passing on the skills. A fun filled day included 11 zones which visitors could enjoy and which the whole school all had a hand in running. Ms Black who first heard about Silver Surfers Day and wanted to get involved this year said:

“Primary 7′s are very talented at ICT and passing it on. It was an opportunity for them to show off their knowledge in different subjects which all have an aspect of using the internet. The whole school is looking forwards to having a fun filled day of teaching and learning”.

More Housing Associations have also joined the ranks with Chevin Housing Group on of those new editions. They thought it would be nice to see what the take up would be for running an internet taster session for older people.  They set up 3 computers for residents to have a go at accessing the web with I.T and other members of staff available to help out and guide people.  Joe Howey, ICT Assistant at Chevin said

“Residents were queuing up at the beginning of the session; it was great to see so many people interested.  Some residents had more experience on computers than others but nearly everyone who had a go commented it wasn’t as hard as they had first imagined.  The taster session definitely gave some people the confidence to not be afraid to have a go on their own.  It also highlighted the fact that there is another outlet for them if they are not able to get out and about, knowing that they can access shopping and banking on-line”.

We also had fantastic support again from libraries and UK Online centres which have a great track record of supporting the day. These places and community centres up and down the country do an amazing job of helping their communities throughout the year.

The team at Digital Unite would like to thank all of those event holders and volunteers who took part without which Silver Surfers Day would not be possible. So whether you are a veteran event holder since 2002 or just had your first taste of how running an event can benefit your organisation and community – we hope that you will join us again next year to break another record!

You can read more about the experiences of volunteers at the libraries who give their time in this article on Library ‘computer buddies’ share their experiences.

Next year – when Digital Unite celebrates the 10th anniversary of Silver Surfers’ Day – many more Events will be accessible to even more older people so if you didn’t get involved this year you can start thinking and planning how you can celebrate with us in 2011 contact us or call 0800 822 3951.

What would you like to do on Silver Surfers’ Day?

Would you like to run an event, come along to an event near you, or volunteer to help? Well the Silver Surfers Day 2010 website is the place to come.

Remember if you are running an event and have not yet registered, get signed up now. You’ll be on our map and details given out on the freephone number 0800 100 900 being promoted in the media and online. New for this years event event holders could be in with a chance to win the GBP1000 prize (further details on the Silver Surfers Day website).

If you are a social landlord in the West Midlands or South West of  England, you have until 5pm on Monday 31st May to submit your application to the Get Digital programme.  Successful applicants will receive a package of grants, training and support to promote, deliver and sustain digital literacy skills for their residents.

It’s not too onerous, in fact people who have completed the Application Form so far have been ‘pleasantly surprised by the straightforwardness and simplicity’ of the process. You can download the Application Pack, with a Word form for the Application and detailed guidance on how to complete it here .

We are Kate Norman and Rick Crust, and we are part of the Digital Unite team promoting Silver Surfers Day 2010, which is on 21 May 2010. In this blog we’ll be telling you about the amazing events and partnerships we’re lining up for this year’s Silver Surfers Day. We’re excited… we hope you are, too.

To register for this year’s event, go to http://silversurfers.digitalunite.com/how-to-register

To contact Kate (Media Officer)
email kate.norman@digitalunite.net or phone 0798 2063062
twitter @sarahkatenorman

To contact Rick (Event Manager)
email rick.crust@digitalunite.net or phone 0800 077 6144

Follow us on Twitter

Sign up to the Event on Facebook

Last year, we clocked up 1055 events on and around Silver Surfers Day, and we estimate we reached more than 8 million people. With your help, we can reach and surpass these numbers in 2010.

Read about SSD09 [pdf]

View the video Silver Surfer Day 2009 [YouTube, 2:40 mins]

“There’s lots of pleasure, work and friendship transmitted through this machine. Who would hesitate?” Joan Bakewell

I loved the video to promote last year’s that included endorsements from Angela Rippon OBE, Martyn Lewis, Patricia Routledge CBE and Joan Bakewell. I found it inspiring and lovely to hear about how those individuals use technology in their everyday lives – and how they feel it has helped them and how they would like to encourage others.

But many of you will know the reality of the barriers that lie between an older person who has never used a computer and the satisfaction that they can enjoy. It is a journey – and the journey has to start somewhere. Silver Surfers Day is a call to action for older people, their families, friends and supporters.

It shows them:

• what they can do;
• where they can go; and
• that there are great people, groups and companies – like you – to support them as they reap the benefits.

You are already doing this work, and we know of some wonderful places for older people and some heartwarming success stories. We also know how hard it is for these places to be sustainable, and we want to help you make the job of running a Silver Surfers Day this year as easy and as fun as possible.

Read the rest of this entry »

There will be a free Regional Event in Bristol on Monday 10th May for everyone interested in finding out more about the Get Digital programme, particularly those in the West/South West region.

Please see here for more information and if you would like to attend, send an email to info@getdigital.org.uk

Applications are now invited from sheltered housing schemes and social landlords in the East, East Midlands, West Midlands and South West regions to the Get Digital programme.  For more information including extended deadline dates click here

We are holding a free Regional Event in Peterborough on Tuesday 13th April for anyone interested in finding out more about Get Digital.  To apply for a place, please send an email, by 5pm on Friday 9th April to info@getdigital.org.uk