Surfing the web doesn’t always click with everybody.
But a scheme in Leeds is helping to teach hundreds of older people how to improve their internet skills.
Leeds Federated Housing Association (LFHA) employees have been volunteering for an hour a week to help residents get to grips with the latest technology.
Sessions have started across LFHA’s sheltered schemes, showing residents everything from turning on a computer to shopping online.
For many of the participants, aged from 55 to 75, it is the first time they have used the internet.
Sharon Garewal, corporate involvement officer, said: “Knowing how to use the internet is becoming a basic life skill, as important as reading and writing. The future will be digital and we want to make sure our tenants, and all Leeds residents, are ready.”
The scheme is part of the Go On Leeds digital inclusion campaign to get the estimated 136,000 people in the city who are not online using the internet.
Karen Dickens, LFHA neighbourhood officer, said: “We have been working through the basics each week and participating residents are now using the internet with minimal supervision.
“Residents say they feel more confident in using the laptops and the internet since the beginning of the course.”
Improving internet skills will help residents find new hobbies, access further learning, pay bills online and keep in touch with friends and family.It can also help them save money, with one participant saving £127 a year after comparing and swapping their energy tariff.
LFHA is also running drop-in sessions for other residents who are not online and specific sessions for people trying to find jobs and complete applications online.
To find out more, visit: www.lfha.co.uk or call 0113 386 1000.
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