Helping older residents stay connected to family and friends

Those at four schemes have been taking part in an eight-week tablet course run by Get Online Newcastle.

A number of residents at Lawson House, Conewood House, Tree Top Village and Hartley Court have been learning how to use a tablet, including using WhatsApp, sending emails, using the internet, setting up an online library account, and more.

At the end of the course, they were all presented with a certificate and sim-enabled tablet to continue their digital journey.

As a result of their new found skills, they will be able to contact their friends and family all around the country, America, Turkey and more thanks to WhatsApp.

For Kath, who resides at Conewood House, it was the first time she had received a certificate and will now be contacting her daughter in France and son in America.

Pam, one of the four residents at Lawson House who completed the course, said she will now be joining her school class reunion group on WhatsApp and is excited to get back in touch with them.

Tony, who lives in Tree Top Village, said: “Despite being quite IT literate, my use of smaller devices has been limited and this learning has improved by confidence immensely and will mean I will be able to use IT in more and more ways.

“Been a great learning experience, good for my wellbeing and very therapeutic.”

Fellow Tree Top Village resident Ken added: “I have enjoyed the experience of this course and the help I’ve had was exceptional and now I know a lot more about the internet than I ever did.”

Mary, who lives at Hartley Court, said: “I’ve enjoyed the course. I’ve learned the basics such as how to send emails, something I never thought I’d do at nearly 82!

“The staff (who came in) have been so good and really encouraging. I’m really pleased they have given us this chance to learn tablets.

“I always wanted to learn how to learn how to use tablets but didn’t think I could.”

Larry, another resident at Hartley Court who completed the course, said: “I’ve been on computers for over 30 years but never had a formal lesson, just picked up things myself.

“Recently I’ve been having problems with my memory and this has been a refresher course to get my mind going again.

“I’ve got friends in Australia and Spain and I can contact them now.”

He added: “I would recommend this course to anyone else.

“Anyone over 20 should be picking this up, especially older people. It’s not as much a mystery as it seems.”