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.

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.

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).

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 .

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.

Rick Crust, our Event Manager,  has the perfect experience to help community centres, UK Online centres, libraries, schools and individuals in business and community venues around the country to open your doors and welcome potential Silver Surfers to peer in.

Will you be there with a smile on you face to help them make a start with a mouse and keyboard? We have some themes for this year to entice newbies and banish their fear of new technology. We believe they will be astonished by just what they can do if they take up a course or class to continue their learning – and use the libraries and facilities close to them to keep going.

I will take you through these themes and how you will access them via the On the Day Portal (which you’ll soon be able to start having a play with). So get registered and ask as many questions you would like about this year. Rick and I will be on hand to answer your questions so if you want to call, email, tweet or comment then take your pick and ask away.

We’re a friendly bunch, and between Rick  and me and the rest of the Digital Unite team we have a wealth of experience. If you would like to take part this year, but don’t know how – just call us and we will try to help you break down any barriers.

This year we have the BBC on board this year as a media partner. So don’t worry about putting on an event and having no-one turn up! We will do all we can to help you promote your local event and cover all regions of the UK to make this year bigger and better than ever!

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

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

Get Digital will work with residents, scheme staff, RSLs and the wider community to promote, deliver and sustain digital literacy skills for older residents in sheltered housing.

Get Digital will also engage with a range of stakeholders from the wider housing, digital inclusion and older people’s fields to raise awareness of the opportunities to promote and support older people’s digital literacy in housing and other social and community environments.

You can read more about this exciting new project here

BeGrand.net will launch in January and it’s a site focused on Grandparents.  It’s going to be a place where people can …..

• Find information, advice and support on everything from fun, free things to do with their grandchildren, to serious issues like grandparents’ legal rights.
• Make friends with other grandparents and share their expertise, knowledge and ideas online.
• Get answers to their questions from our trained advisors.

The project may sound familiar, because although we haven’t been able to properly publicise it, we’ve been advertising for jobs on it via this blog and you didn’t have to be a super sleuth to work out what was going on.  However, it’s now been formally announced by the Department of Children, Schools and Families – who are funding its initial stages, so we can reveal the details.  Their announcement is here. And the press release from BeGrand.net is here.

We’re one of three partners who started a consortium to build the site.  As well as providing specialist staff overseeing content and communications, we have an advisory role on its board.  Though the project is a separate business, we’ll be closely linked to it and through it, continue DU’s mission to help older people get more out of life online.

There’s more information about it on the BeGrand.net blog and for the technocrats amongst you, a techy blog about how it’s being built.

The most important thing about the site is that it becomes a place for grandparents to talk about what they think and feel – not a site where we tell grandparents what they ought to think and feel.  If you’re a grandparent,or an adopted one, one-in-waiting, or just someone who’s interested in the subject,  please get involved.  We’re interested in what you think about the idea, and what you think should be on the site.  You can talk to us via the BeGrand.net blog or  sign up for the news letter and we’ll let you know when it launches.