“I have family spread across the world and I wanted to be able to keep in touch with them.”
Said Barbara Stephen (pictured), a lively 85 year old who lives in a Nottinghamshire village near Worksop. Quite a lot of her family live in far flung places across the world and Barbara wanted to be able to use her Apple iPad to keep in touch with those family members but she didn't have the skills to do so.
Then one day Barbara was visiting her local Bassetlaw Community Voluntary Service and spotted a flyer about Digital Champion support in her area as part of the Nottinghamshire Digital Champions Network (NDCN).
The Network is an initiative by the Nottinghamshire County Council to train and support volunteers across the county who can help local people to be online.
Barbara got in touch with the Network team who linked her up with local Digital Champion, Anne. With her next door neighbour Norma, they made their way on their motorised scooters to the local library for their lessons.
So what has Barbara learnt?
Following Anne’s help Barbara has been able to speak to her friends and family, using Facetime. This includes her niece in Australia, her own bridesmaid in Florida, her daughter in Spain and nephew in Germany.
Barbara was able to speak with all of them on Christmas day, individually. She needs more lessons to speak with them all in a group but those are planned!
She is now able to search for things on the internet and Anne showed her how to find post codes so she was able to address her Christmas cards properly.
Many of Barbara's favourite TV programmes are on late at night. That is no problem as she is now able to watch on BBCiPlayer as Anne has shown her how to use it.
Shopping online is earmarked for future lessons when Barbara has gained more confidence.
What would you tell other people about this experience?
“I am so very thankful to Anne for having the patience and taking the time to show me and Norma what to do.
“If you think you'd like to know how to use a computer but are a little scared, don't be. If you live in Nottinghamshire you may very well live close by a trained Digital Champion who may be able to help you. It's been marvellous!”