Southern Housing is helping older residents to get online by delivering digital inclusion courses in its independent living schemes via its charity, Fresh Visions.
Partnering with contractor, Equans UK & Ireland, residents were invited to a three-day digital inclusion course at Rogallo Place in Chatham and Abbeyfields Court in Faversham.
The course was designed to help residents gain confidence in using and navigating the internet, discover valuable tips and tricks, and most importantly, learn how to stay safe online. The residents we’re presented with laptops by the project sponsors, once they’d completed the course.
The sessions were delivered by Eddie Amofah, Fresh Visions’ Project Officer at Southern Housing, and Richard Sanz, Social Value & Community Officer at Equans.
Participants learnt everything from how to check they’re connected to the internet and finding opening hours and phone numbers, to streaming their favourite shows and ordering groceries.
Speaking of the course, Eddie said: “Our Fresh Visions InTouch programme aims to improve the wellbeing of over 55s living in Southern Housing’s schemes, including supporting them to develop new skills and improve confidence.
“We know that while many older people are confident online, digital exclusion does increase with age, so we felt it was important to provide an opportunity for residents to both improve their skills and to learn how to stay safe when using the internet.”
The final session focussed on empowering residents to surf the net safely, and the advice was gladly received.
“It’s been really useful to learn more about how scams work, what to look for and how to spot if something is genuine.” Rogallo Place resident, Vivienne, said. “We’re older and our age group tends to be targeted for things like this, and I don’t want to be caught out. The course gave me the confidence to look at things differently.”
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