We supported Valerie through Learn Digital, helping her to learn the basics of using her laptop and phone and allowing her grow in confidence, increase her independence and to save over £350 a year!
Learn Digital is a project that lies within our Reconnect service supporting adults to improve health and wellbeing. The project focuses on improving individuals’ digital skills, providing support to use computers and digital devices.
Sobering statistics
With social interaction, shopping, job applications, paying bills, banking and much more all taking place online, digital skills now an essential part of today’s world. Yet Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2020 reports that 3.6 million people in the UK (7% of the population) are almost completely offline, while 16.9 million (33%) have ‘very low’ digital engagement.
Learn Digital works to combat this, matching volunteers, who we call Digital Guides, with individuals who need support, known as Digital Learners. Through this support we have found that Digital Learners grow in confidence, become more socially connected and improve their financial position as well as their job prospects.
The word ‘digital’ can sometimes sound scary, with some volunteers thinking they need to be IT experts – but this is far from the truth! Digital Learners come to us to learn skills ranging from holding a mouse properly, to browsing the web, to using online banking and more. So, if you know how to use a smartphone or computer, you can be a Digital Guide!
Making a difference in someone’s life
58-year-old Digital Learner Valerie is a vulnerable adult with some learning difficulties which limit her capacity for paid employment. When we first met her, she had her own laptop and an old-style push-button phone but struggled to get the most out of these devices. Our Digital Guide began with helping her learn the basics of signing into her laptop and connecting to the internet.
Saving money online
As sessions progressed, Valerie was eager to learn as much as she could but was frustrated by the limitations of her older mobile phone, which she was paying far too much for. Taking into consideration her limited budget, we supported her to look for better deals, and she was able to move to a contract with a modern smartphone, saving £10 per month. Her Digital Befriender supported her to use this new phone and install WhatsApp, which in combination with a cheaper broadband package, resulted in further savings by cutting the costs of phone bills and mobile data.
Exploring apps for her new phone, Valerie’s Digital Guide also supported her to learn how to buy tickets for live music, cinema and theatre through apps and online. She had previously been spending around £15 a month calling booking offices without realising that they were charging premium rate numbers.
Overall, within just a few weeks of support from her Digital Guide, Valerie was making monthly savings of £30 – more than £350 per year!
Reducing isolation with technology
Valerie lives alone and spoke of feeling quite socially isolated at times. One of her friends suggested she buy an Amazon Alexa. After making the purchase she brought it with her to one of her sessions and her Digital Guide helped her set it up and learn how to use it.
The Alexa was well suited to Valerie’s needs and unlocked a lot of the potential of the internet for her. She could ask it to play her favourite music, check the weather, pose it questions and much more. When asked whether she was enjoying using her Alexa, Valerie said ‘I’ve got someone to talk to now’.
Looking ahead
Since the coronavirus crisis we’ve been supporting Valerie with video calls through WhatsApp. She is quite comfortable using this feature and knows how to initiate the calls herself – which she has been doing to keep in touch with friends.
With lockdown and many vulnerable individuals shielding, the need for digital skills has only increased, with those who may have already felt isolated at risk of even further isolation. Learn Digital aims to help with that, offering over the phone support for Digital Learners to get to grips with their devices and reduce isolation.
We’re looking for volunteers to become Digital Guides, to make a difference in the lives of people like Valerie.