Cosmic have teamed up with Age UK Devon and have submitted a project to the Aviva Community Fund and is now looking to rally the voters in a bid to receive up to £25,000. The project is now subject to securing votes in a public vote and winners will be announced on 10 January 2017.
If successful, the digital inclusion project will engage older people who have never used IT by demonstrating how new technology can improve their everyday lives, and help them on their journey to develop the necessary knowledge, skills and confidence.
Technology is everywhere and used for most things in life, if an older person does not use the internet they might find normal day to day things much harder to do. Age UK Devon and Cosmic are passionate about this project as it will help older people to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to get online and:
- Keep in touch with their family and friends using facetime, WhatsApp and other digital means
- Keep track of their finances and pay bills
- Order their weekly groceries and other shopping
- Watch favourite television programmes and films
- Order a Taxi…or a takeaway!
- Booking a holiday
- Participating in forums
- Get up to date information and advice
- Search for local events, activities and groups
- Get in touch with businesses and other organisations
- Find the best deals and save money on products and services
The project will engage older people through a series of reminiscence pop up events, taster sessions and then one-to-one tuition sessions. The pop up events will showcase a range of themed items from the past, such as old photos of the local area, music, films and books, some of which will be shown through various technical devices e.g. iPad, to demonstrate how technology can help recall memories. Staff and volunteers will also facilitate discussions about how technology can be used to improve daily living, independence and quality of life. The pop up events will be held in a variety of suitable and accessible locations such as community centres, at community groups, libraries, memory cafes, hospital foyers, GP surgeries, care homes and sheltered accommodation to ensure we reach a range of older people.
Those visiting each pop up event will be invited to a taster session which will provide an opportunity to try out a range of different devices; or bring their own devices and receive support on specific problems. Older people wanting to learn more will be offered six 1-2-1 sessions which will be delivered in a community venue, or in the older person’s home. A nominated volunteer will conduct all six sessions to enable trust and friendship to be formed. At each session the volunteer will determine what the person wants to learn such as online shopping, banking or searching for information, using Skype, FaceTime or email, and will then adapt the delivery to suit the needs of the person concerned.
Age UK Devon has over 65 years’ experience of delivering services for older people; since 2002 they have delivered digital inclusion projects to older people including people with dementia.
The pop-ups, taster sessions and 1-2-1 sessions will be delivered by trained Age UK Devon volunteers. It is important that volunteers develop a range of technical skills, to enable them to become technically fluent and have the ability to troubleshoot a range of issues individuals may face. With this in mind Cosmic will deliver an eight week programme for volunteers, followed by six more sessions to further develop and embed skills. Cosmic have delivered train the trainer type of activity for 20 years as part of their work in the Digital Inclusion field and their best practice programmes are used in many training projects.
Age UK Devon and Cosmic are passionate about this project and are looking for supporters to cast their 10 votes during the public vote which is open from 21 October until 18 November. To cast your vote visit https://community-fund.aviva.co.uk/voting/project/view/16-2560.
For more information please contact Sophie Littlewood 0333 241 2340 or e-mail s.littlewood@ageukdevon.co.uk