New ‘Silver Surfer’ project to be launched on Silver Surfers’ Day

Somer Community Housing Trust has chosen Silver Surfers’ Day on Friday, 23rd May 2008 to launch a new initiative to help some of its older residents access online services.

Eight out of ten older people in the UK aren’t media literate. Media literacy, in today's digital age, is more important than ever. It can facilitate a more convenient, cheaper, community-rich lifestyle. Older people, who have so much to gain from the online world, are still largely missing out.

To help address this imbalance, Somer Community Housing Trust is launching the Somer Silver Surfers’ Project. This will provide access to computers and training to older residents living in the Trust’s sheltered housing schemes. Over the next three years hundreds of residents in up to 30 schemes across Bath and North East Somerset will benefit from being able to use a communal computer and from help to master the internet, online shopping and using email to contact friends and family.

The project will kick off on Silver Surfers’ Day on Friday 23rd May 2008 with free taster sessions between 10am and 3.30pm at The Meeting Hall, Chandler Close, Weston, Bath. The event is aimed at absolute beginners and is open to anyone aged over 50 and living in the Weston/Newbridge area of Bath as well as to the Trust’s sheltered housing residents. Disabled access is available.

Visitors can book in for a 45-minute, one-to-one session where they will be able to have a go at using a computer and find out about the benefits of internet and email. The event is being run with help from volunteers from Chandler Close Residents’ Association and a professional tutor from Digital Unite.

Caroline Green, Community Initiatives Officer, said:

‘This is a good opportunity to find out the benefits of using a computer in a friendly, supportive environment, with other beginners. We often find that once people get over their initial fear and taste life online, they realise that it isn’t as scary as they thought, and they can access some really useful information, services and resources.’

To book a place contact Caroline Green on 01225 366306. People interested in finding out about other local Silver Surfers’ Day events can contact Learn Direct on 0800 100 900.