North Lincolnshire Homes face a particular challenge in helping residents get online – many of its 20,000 tenants live in rural areas. So, their community team at ongo Communities has teamed up with North Lincolnshire Council, which loaned a specially converted minibus, and is hitting the road for a series of iPad Parties.
The bus will make 10 stops around North Lincolnshire, equipped with an internet connection and volunteer trainers.
“We saw this an ideal opportunity to be part of a national campaign like Spring Online in association with Carphone Warehouse, which would bring huge benefits to both our organisation and to local communities,” says Community Investment Co-ordinator Chris Baker.
“It’s vital that we help residents get online. The digital divide may be getting narrower, but it’s getting deeper, and people who aren’t connected are missing out on a huge range of benefits that the rest of us take for granted.”
“We hope to motivate people at our iPad Parties by showing them how much fun they can have by pursuing their interests and hobbies, exchanging photographs and talking to grandchildren via Skype. We’re using iPads because a lot of people find them easier and more intuitive to use, and they can learn to browse quickly without using a keypad. Our experience has shown us that this approach is much more effective than beating people over the head with all the reasons they should get online – and we can then signpost learners to other friendly taster sessions.”
North Lincolnshire Homes recognises that there are also important benefits to housing providers when residents can use online services. “We want our residents to be able to engage with us quickly and easily,” says Chris. “If we’ve something urgent to communicate to residents, we can put it up on the website immediately, rather than waiting to post letters or knock on doors. Residents can use our website to find out about local services, benefit changes and planned work – and report problems and issues. Communicating with our tenants, and listening to what they have to say, can only make our services better.”