NOWADAYS it is not unusual for information and even public consultations to be placed on a website. "More details can be obtained" has got to be the most frequently heard addition to many programmes on the television. Your newspaper's recently opened forum, which provides an excellent platform for exchanging views, is a case in point.
I am not against these improvements in the means of acquiring and exchanging knowledge since I have a computer, know how to use it and can choose to access anything I want to. However, there are still large numbers of members of the community who are excluded.
These are the people who don't own a computer. It isn't always the cost that is an issue either. People can find them daunting and expect them to be too complicated.
Since we opened the Computer Centre at the Pickersleigh Comm-unity Centre, in Sherrards Green Road, we have found the majority of our customers have been older people and that all they have really lacked is self-confidence. The volunteers who staff the centre on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10am-1pm understand the need for patience.
The greatest job satisfaction has come from watching nervousness be replaced by the confidence to surf the net and the excitement of finding out just how much is available. Some customers have only come to look at the websites they've heard about or to set up an email address so they can keep in touch with friends and relatives.
The cost is £8 for ten one-hour sessions and people are supported in using their hours in whatever way is helpful to them. We don't do courses but we do provide people with the basic knowledge, which will then allow them to do courses if they want to. Several people have gone on to buy their own computers and to join the community of those who can access more details.
JENNETTE DAVY MBE, secretary/treasurer, Pickersleigh Centre Association, Cedar Avenue, Malvern.
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