This Get Online Week, we’re celebrating some of our fantastic customers who – thanks to our help – are now surfing the internet, online banking and WhatsApp–ing like pros.
So, say hello to Agatha*, one of the hundreds of Livv customers we have worked closely with in our digital sessions:
“At 83, I very much saw the internet, smartphones and tablets as something ‘younger people did’ and didn’t understand what I’d get out of knowing how to get online. That was until I met Paul.”
Paul George, one of our Community Investment Officers (and digital wizard!) worked with Agatha to show her the benefits of getting online and the possibilities open to her, if she just learnt some simple digital skills:
“Like many older people, Agatha felt that the digital movement had passed her by and wasn’t relevant to her, so took some convincing when I invited her to a digital session. However, in reality, it was Agatha’s first step towards a new interest!
“I work with so many people who think they won’t be able to use a smartphone and tablet or reap the benefits of getting online, but everyone who has attended one of our digital sessions has loved it. It’s great to see people who have previously been excluded from the digital world become so engrossed in it.”
Talking about her experience of the digital sessions, Agatha continued:
“I was really nervous about coming to the session as I knew nothing – I couldn’t even turn on a tablet when I started! However, after attending one session and seeing how helpful and supportive everyone was, I kept coming back, week-on-week.”
Originally joining the sessions to learn how to video call her family and grandchildren who lived outside of Merseyside, Agatha gained so much from the sessions:
“As I live alone, the sessions not only opened up a whole new world for me, it helped me meet new people and make friends. Having something to look forward to each week really helped me feel less lonely – I can even text my new friends now – which is something I never thought I’d be able to do!
“I am so proud of what I have achieved, and I can’t believe I video called my family on my own – that felt so out of reach for me a few weeks ago.”
Following the sessions, Agatha went onto learn even more and signed herself up to a 10-week Introduction to IT course, which she has since completed:
If you told me last year that I’d have – and know how to use – a smartphone and a tablet, I’d have laughed in your face! I would encourage anyone who thinks they can’t get online to have a go; it’s changed my life. I can do so much now and have even been paying my bills online but most importantly, I speak to my family more than ever before – we even have a family WhatsApp group – and that makes me so happy.
If you want to get online with Livv and find out more about our digital sessions and the support available, contact Paul directly via Paul.George@livvhousinggroup.com