More sheltered housing schemes get residents online Monday, October 18, 2010 - 17:33

The money received by the 92 sheltered housing schemes during Get Online Week - up to a maximum of £4,000 for each scheme - will be used for computers, software, printers and other digital equipment, as well as for in-house IT training for residents.

Get Digital - delivered by NIACE and Digital Unite - has allocated the last of its £700,000 grant, which has funded a total of 196 different sheltered housing schemes and has already supported nearly 8,000 older residents.

To support other sheltered housing schemes in investing in similar digital inclusion projects once Get Digital ends - end of March 2011 - resources full of good practice guides, case studies and learning materials are being developed for scheme managers.

People who have taken part and benefitted from existing Get Digital schemes, have said:

Nancy - "[The Internet] is the kind of thing that if you don't get a handle on, you're going to be lost in this world. I've been dying to get computers. My family and grandchildren are all in America and they have skype and a webcam and I can talk to them. It's just opened up a whole world."

We want to encourage as many other sheltered housing schemes as possible to implement digital inclusion projects of this kind, by seeing that it is worth investing their own funds to start one up. To do this we are developing free toolkits to support scheme managers and landlords...

Susan Easton, NIACE's Project Manager of the Get Digital project

Alice - "Things are changing rapidly [but] you don't have to go outside to learn anything, it's all inside the building. I always want to learn something new. It's nice and it makes you feel young again despite your age."

Eula - "I'm learning so much information that I can also pass on to the people here, to help them."

Julianna Woodvine, Circle Anglia sheltered scheme manager- "[Get Digital] has raised their self-esteem to the limit because it's something they never thought they could do. Having Get Digital is one of the greatest things that has happened for them since I've been here, because it's like a new lease of life."

Morgan Andrews, Digital Unite tutor - "It's only when they realise the benefits of technology that they realise it's not just a computer anymore. The computer is the internet and it's a place where everything is done, seen and heard and it does join people around the world together. It's essentially important for everyone to know about the internet, because as times goes on the people who are unaware of it will be at a disadvantage."

Susan Easton, NIACE's Project Manager of the Get Digital project, said:

"The announcement of our last round of funding today coincides with the launch of Get Online week, which is highlighting the 10 million adults across the UK who have never used the internet, 4 million of whom are also socially excluded. Research shows that of the 4 million, two in five (39%) are over the age of 65 and missing out on the many opportunities that the internet has to offer. Get Digital has already gone a long way to change that by funding sheltered housing schemes to get their older residents online, but our work has just begun."

"We want to encourage as many other sheltered housing schemes as possible to implement digital inclusion projects of this kind, by seeing that it is worth investing their own funds to start one up. To do this we are developing free toolkits to support scheme managers and landlords who are interested in delivering and sustaining digital literacy skills for older residents in sheltered housing. The toolkits include a range of guides, information sheets, activities and learning resources and will be available from the end of October on the Get Digital website."