{"id":1280,"date":"2023-09-27T14:35:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T13:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/?p=1280"},"modified":"2023-09-27T14:35:43","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T13:35:43","slug":"getting-people-excited-about-digital-in-sturminster-newton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/2023\/09\/27\/getting-people-excited-about-digital-in-sturminster-newton\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting people excited about digital in Sturminster Newton"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year marks the 10th<\/sup> anniversary of Dorset Council\u2019s Volunteer Digital Champion service. We are running a series of articles and videos to celebrate this milestone. In this article, we meet the volunteers and learners at the very special Sturminster Newton Learning Centre.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A volunteer helps a learner set up a new smart phone at the Learning Centre in Sturminster Newton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tucked away in Sturminster Newton\u2019s community building The Exchange is a room that is a hive of activity.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Wednesday morning and people are flocking in for one purpose \u2013 to take advantage of the free IT equipment and get advice from Dorset Council\u2019s volunteer digital champions.<\/p>\n

This is the Sturminster Newton Learning Centre, a free weekly drop-in service run entirely by eight volunteers.<\/p>\n

We met up with volunteer digital champion David and some of the learners to find out just what kind of help is available to the people of Sturminster Newton.<\/p>\n

David has been volunteering at the centre since it opened and formally became a Dorset Council volunteer digital champion several years ago.<\/p>\n

\"t\"<\/a>
Volunteer digital champion David (centre) talks to other users of The Learning Centre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He said: \u201cOne of the advantages of the Learning Centre is we are able to show people all kinds of equipment here, from mobile phones, to tablets, to the desktops and we\u2019ve also got smart devices.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can stand there and ask a little Google screen what\u2019s the next bus time for Yeovil and it will tell us exactly what time it is and where to go to catch it. It even tells you how long it takes to walk to the bus stop.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can get people excited about what\u2019s available and the benefits of digital.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of David\u2019s regular learners is 80 year-old Roger, who has been coming to the Learning Centre for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

So, what makes him keep coming back?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best place in the whole of Dorset!\u201d Roger exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has the equipment and the volunteers, and you know they\u2019re here to help you.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith new technologies emerging and getting more difficult, this help is so needed. I have a smart phone but I\u2019m still struggling with that because of my age, you know, we didn\u2019t used to have these things. It\u2019s alright for a 10 year-old now, it\u2019s instinctive to them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always saying to people who struggle to use digital, don\u2019t ask me \u2013 go and see the volunteer digital champions.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Roger first visited the centre more than a decade ago, he never owned a computer.<\/p>\n

He needed to send some correspondence abroad and emails were now easier (and less costly) to do this.<\/p>\n

With no computer at home, Roger turned to the Learning Centre so he could use the IT equipment there.<\/p>\n

He then inherited a computer, and the volunteer digital champions were able to help set it up for him and update it with the latest software.<\/p>\n

Roger remembered: \u201cLoads of people can do those things, like installing Windows 10, without help but if you don\u2019t know how to, the volunteers here can help \u2013 just like they helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And why is Roger still coming to see the volunteer digital champions more than a decade after his first visit?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Learner<\/a>
Learner Roger (left) speaking to volunteer digital champion David<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAt the moment we\u2019re trying to set up my smart phone to pay for parking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really against my principles but it\u2019s the world we live in now. They are also trying to encourage me to do internet banking but I\u2019m still resisting. I\u2019ve got to go 30 miles to my nearest bank branch now. Again, it\u2019s the world we\u2019re now living in.\u201d<\/p>\n

And would Roger recommend other people come to see the volunteer digital champions?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s about 5 or 6 million of us over 80s, there\u2019s never been that many before. Volunteers offering this type of service is essential,\u201d Roger remarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to have a computer as all the equipment is here. So come along, try it out, and see how you get on.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can start off on simple things and I reckon in about six goes\u2019, they can then decide what they want to do. There might be people who also can\u2019t afford computers, so the learning centre is great for them as well as they can come here to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another regular visitor to the Learning Centre is Liz who has been coming for around 12 years.<\/p>\n

And what makes Liz keep on coming back?<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI\u2019m hopeless with technology. All I want to do is be able to respond to and send emails, catch up with friends and to play Patience! I don\u2019t want anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on my fourth or fifth phone now and they (the volunteers) are just setting it up for me. When I get strange calls I come straight here and say is this a scam? They say yes, just ignore it, and set my mind at rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really are very helpful. Any problems at all, come here, everyone is so friendly and helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Learner<\/a>
Learner Liz keeps coming back for digital help<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Learning Centre, located in the Lydden Room in The Exchange, is a drop-in open every Monday morning and all-day Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Dorset Council also has volunteer digital champions based in many libraries across the county.<\/p>\n

To find your nearest volunteer digital champion service go to www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/volunteer-digital-champions<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Learning Centre in Sturminster Newton is always a hive of activity<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Dorset Council\u2019s Volunteer Digital Champion service. We are running a series of articles and videos to celebrate this milestone. In this article, we meet the volunteers and learners at the very special Sturminster Newton Learning Centre. Tucked away in Sturminster Newton\u2019s community building The Exchange is a room… Read more Getting people excited about digital in Sturminster Newton<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1907,"featured_media":1289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[48,49,57,1],"tags":[144,43,78,32,53,52,145,114],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/files\/2023\/09\/learning-centre-vdc-14-1-of-1-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1280"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1907"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1280"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1295,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1280\/revisions\/1295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}