Barclays bank, Canary Wharf, Christian Church, Christian faith, Finsbury Park, west London,
Thursday 26th February 2015
The UCKG HelpCentre Community Outreach Department were delighted to accept an offer of free IT training for seniors from Barclays bank on Saturday, 21 February as part of a national initiative to make the UK more digitally inclusive.
Seniors from the Finsbury Park and other London UCKG HelpCentres came away thoroughly enthused and excited about what they had been learning after half a day’s chat-and-teach style training at the bank’s Canary Wharf headquarters.
Opportunities like this are important because the UK is a year into a national digital inclusion strategy, which aims to reduce the number of people who are offline by 25% by 2016. This is bringing 2.7 million more people online within a period of two years, and more again after that.
The 35 participating seniors, mostly aged between the late 50s and early 70s, and all members of the UCKG HelpCentre’s Caleb group for older people, learnt about online services that could help them save money, or would otherwise be useful for them.
Those who brought smartphones were soon using apps and facilities they’d never tried before, while others, proved themselves dab hands at passwords.
“The seniors’ energy and interest in new technologies was amazing. It goes to show that being older is just a number and not an undesirable medical condition, said Paul Hill, the UCKG HelpCentre’s head of communications. “We are very grateful to Barclays for this splendid opportunity.”
Kim Powell, the UCKG HelpCentre’s Community Outreach coordinator, who organised the event in cooperation with the bank said: “The day was educational, informative and entertaining. Our seniors were able to use a range of new and exciting equipment. They were guided through websites that offer short courses on how to use the Internet so everyone could learn new skills; and most importantly we were taught how to protect our computers from viruses and phishing emails.”
Contact between the two organisations – Barclays bank and the UCKG HelpCentre – was established as a result of a chance meeting between bank staff in Hammersmith, west London and UCKG HelpCentre fundraisers. It also resulted in digital training for 100 members of VYG, the charity’s youth group.
ENDS
Notes to editors
UCKG is a Christian church and registered charity that offers a range of practical support activities alongside spiritual support and comfort and welcomes all-comers. It reached the UK in 1995 and has gone from strength to strength, providing support and spreading the Christian faith. There are UCKG HelpCentre branches in England and Wales.
Caleb is a special interest group of the UCKG that aims to support and assist all older people from age 55 up, and to meet the varied needs of people at different stages in their later years.
For further information please contact the UCKG HelpCentre Press Officer via
e-mail on press@uckgnew.org or direct line 020 7686 6033.
