Hundreds of Silver Surfers out in force

On Thursday 14 and Thursday 28 April, more than 120 business volunteers took a break from their offices to support almost 500 Silver Surfers – people over the age of 50 – with FREE digital skills, getting to grips with the Internet, email, Skype and social media.

Organised by Business in the Community, in partnership with the Department of Finance and Personnel, and supported by Libraries NI, the charity’s Volunteering Manager, Hilary Hanberry explains: “The demand for this type of support, even in an ever-increasing digital age, remains high. The Internet became available to the public 25 years ago and I’m delighted to say that Silver Surfers’ Day has been supporting people for more than half that time – 13 years in fact. Due to volume of requests, we ran two days this year.

“It really is a big commitment from participating businesses. More than £25,000 of business time was contributed this year alone. All of our volunteers are passionate about sharing their skills and they get true joy from helping someone else understand how they can keep in touch with family and friends through Facebook or Skype; save money by shopping on eBay or Amazon; or learn to play the guitar using YouTube. Being connected to the worldwide web certainly has its advantages!”

A Silver Surfers’ Day regular, James Moore from Bangor, who has campaigned at Parliament Buildings about the importance of helping older people get online was back for the third year in a row at Bangor Library on Thursday 28 April. He said: “Being able to use a computer or an iPad opens a whole new world. Every year I come, I learn something new. The volunteers are so patient. I’ll be back again next year!”

Paul Wickens, CEO of Enterprise Shared Services in the Department of Finance and Personnel adds: “I am delighted the campaign is being assisted in this proactive way by Business in the Community. Silver Surfers’ Day, as part of Spring Online Week, formed part of our ‘Go ON NI’ programme which aims to encourage as many people as possible to go online, address any barriers, promote the benefits of accessing the internet, and highlight the convenience of online public services.”

If your business would like to find out more about supporting people with digital skills, please visit www.bitcni.org.uk/digitalassist or email [email protected].