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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    8.7 million Brits have never used the Internet, help them get online

    By Jonathan Weinberg | Yahoo! News – Sun, Oct 30, 2011

    If you're reading this story on Yahoo! News, it's fair to say you know how to use the Internet.Ivy Bean,104, is pictured receiving Twitter training at a residential home in 2009.

    But spare a thought for the 8.7 million people in the UK who have never logged onto cyberspace in their lives.

    Saturday night saw the nation turn its clocks back by an hour as British Summer Time ended and we returned to GMT. UK Online - which is running Get Online Week (Go ON) until November 6 - wants Internet users to take that extra hour and donate it to a good cause.

    Whether you'd normally spend it in bed, having fun with friends, chilling with the family or just taking time out for yourself, that 60 minutes could make a difference.

    So far nearly 7,000 hours have been pledged at Give an Hour by people who are willing to use the time to show someone less proficient than them, just how the web works.

    That might be opening the eyes of a pensioner who's never even seen the Internet, helping a child who doesn't have a computer at home, or just giving some tips to a neighbour about how they can best use their online tech to shop, watch catch-up TV or speak to friends and relatives far away via Skype.

    The initiative is being backed by Lastminute.com founder Martha Lane Fox as well as charity Age UK. According to an Ofcom Adult Media Literacy survey earlier this year, a massive 58% of people aged 65 or more have never used the web.

    Helena Herklots, Services Director at Age UK, said: "Encouraging people to spend the extra hour they get when the clocks change helping someone to get online is a great idea. Older people are far more likely to use the Internet if they are taught by friends and family, so why not give up that lie-in and spend the time introducing an older person you know to the World Wide Web?
     
    "We are working hard to make sure that everyone in later life has the opportunity to benefit from all the Internet can offer, including keeping in contact with friends and family and making savings."
     
    Throughout the year, Age UK runs a number of campaigns to help older people get online including its own, cleverly named, tea and biscuits week. It also has centres around the country where older people can go for lessons and advice. You can find a list here or call 0800 169 65 65.

    Go ON Week also runs a series of classes where anyone can get Internet lessons at its network of centres around Britain.

    An Online Basics course teaches everything from the simple – how to use a mouse – to a bit more advanced such as digital photography and staying safe while surfing.

    There may be a small charge – anywhere between 50p and £2 – but for those on benefits, it could be free. Some centres even have a crèche so children can be looked after while mums and dads log on.

    On top of the 8.7 million people who have never connected to the Internet, another 15 million adults in Britain struggle to use it. Get Online Week hopes to change that too.

    Many of its courses can also be accessed and followed online from home with modules lasting around 40 minutes each. You can find out more here.

    Writing on the AgeUK blog, Martha Lane-Fox said the average UK household can save as much as £560 a year simply by shopping on the Internet and paying bills online – a positive that’s still denied to many.

    And that’s not to mention the benefits of social media like Twitter and Facebook that millions of us take for granted each day, from staying in touch with friends to keeping up on the gossip and arranging nights out.

    Ms Lane-Fox added: “Remember, you don’t need to be an IT whizz to be a digital champ – the best thing to do is to show someone how they can use technology to explore their hobbies and interests.

    “And if this person you’re helping needs more time or knowledge than you can give, there are plenty of friendly places where they can get free or low cost help and support.”

    So what are you waiting for? That hour, those 60 minutes, those 3600 seconds, could go to a good home.

    Even if you simply sit down with someone, log on to UK online centres and find them a place locally to explain even further the wonders of the World Wide Web.

     

    197 comments

    • Yahoo! Prints Lies
      Yahoo! Prints Lies  •  6 months ago
      Why would they assume that older people have any interest in twitter? its only used mainly by people who all follow Celebs around like sheep.
      • terry
        terry 6 months ago
        or who post rubbish like you
      • Bobcat
        Bobcat 6 months ago
        Now now Terry, the truth is hardly "rubbish" is it!
      • Bert Nodules
        Bert Nodules 6 months ago
        Twitter is so boring and Facebook is so dangerous.,How many kids that use it will regret what they post in years to come, perhaps even lose their jobs. Once posted it's there for ever!
    • Whisperycat
      Whisperycat  •  7 months ago
      8.7 million revenue units, quick, get them herded online, get them signed up with £30 a month broadband, get them onto the endless Windows upgrade treadmill, OAPs have far too much disposable income, never mind not being able to heat their homes, these people need Twitter
      • hollybush
        hollybush 6 months ago
        Never pay £30.00 pcm just for internet broadband. With a lot of companies you can include your telephone calls (even those abroad) free access to your friends via emails . You can do your shopping via ebay or with well known companies and even get very tasty meals delivered free to you door and put in your freezer for you if you wish. All these benefits can cost quite a bit less than £30.00 pcm - just shop around or get a computer friend to help you do it. And that is not all you can download music for free and games of a wide variety.....oh the list is endless. Very well worth the monthly charge but not as high as £30 pcm. Try for starters Talk Talk and Sky but dont stop there..search. All the best if you have a go!!!!
      • John
        John 6 months ago
        Of course one aspect is simply about business, more cash for the big boys.
      • Tim W
        Tim W 6 months ago
        @hollybush: Looks like you're part of the plan to get these 8.7million people online weather they want it or not. I'm sure those people have better things to spend their money on, be it £30 pcm or less as you promote.
    • Paul
      Paul  •  6 months ago
      I agree... kind of.
      What I really dont want to see is vulnerable old people exposing themselves to risk and the kind of abusive stuff that goes on on many fora. Including yahoo I have to say!
      • arthur
        arthur 6 months ago
        Paul just because we are elderly doesn't mean we're vulnerable and as for the abusive language ,been their ,done it ,got the T shirt (a little faded now )remember we were once young and did all the things that young people are doing today,we thought we had invented sex just like the young ones think today and some of us are still doing it ,I hope this doesn't sicken you but even oldies need love.
      • Bobcat
        Bobcat 6 months ago
        Go for it, Arthur! Bet you've got more "get up and go" than a lot
        of youngsters these days!
    • JOHN
      JOHN  •  6 months ago
      i AM oap use the internet,as its far too EXPENSIVE to stay on too long,speed does not matter,its the price,i need to eat and keep warm.Not line the pockets of GREEDY ISP,it should be free too ALL,who pay for a telephone line..
      • Bert Nodules
        Bert Nodules 6 months ago
        But is it that you cannot afford it or you don't want to afford it. There is a difference. Shrouds do not have pockets.
      • belinda
        belinda 6 months ago
        Check out you local library service- many still offer free internet or charge very little- libraries are warm too- and you can meet new and interesting people there.
      • michael
        michael 6 months ago
        John, why is it more expensive to stay on longer? I hope you haven't got a pay as you go contract for your internet? It should be a set price each month.
    • Oldie1929
      Oldie1929  •  6 months ago
      I am 83 and I find the article and alot of the comments, very patronising, all old people are not stupid, we don't belong to a separate tribe, we are what you will all be someday.
      • emma
        emma 6 months ago
        people get patronised for all kinds of reasons ..age , employment status, gender,being a young parent or a single parent..yup it sucks when you get stereo typed and judged by people who know not a thing about you :'(
      • Oldie1929
        Oldie1929 6 months ago
        Emma it seems that you know exactly how I feel,
      • Judge Dredd
        Judge Dredd 6 months ago
        Oldie1929, agreed. Good on you, citizen - that needed to be said.
    • Simmo60
      Simmo60  •  6 months ago
      My Aunt is 89,,she really couldnt give a f,,,, bout ur internet,,she has enough trying 2 survive with the economic measures this half minded government has put in place,,and would some people try and realise there is maybe life without it,,,
    • ann
      ann  •  6 months ago
      My dad is 88 and thinks the computer is great but still costs out of his pension for broadband in these times which we have to eat or keep warm is the goverment going to give the older generation complete set ups to use and give them free broadband or is he just trying to line somebody else pocket
    • Michael
      Michael  •  7 months ago
      I curse the day my father went on the internet. It's a sad fact that a lot of elderly people are easy targets for the scumbags that live by scaming other people out of their money. I have spent many hours sorting out his computer gumed up by garbage because he was told it would run better by clicking here. He has also had money taken from his bank account because he won't believe me when I tell him he has not won £100,000 in a lottery. I believe puting someone like this on the internet is like puting them in a mine field. The internet is a very dangerous place to be when you cant uderstand how to stay safe.
    • Jay
      Jay  •  6 months ago
      Teaching people (anyone, not just the elderly) to "go online" is only a small part of the total knowledge needed to use the Internet. Security is by far the most important lesson to be learnt, and it is far more than simply "keep your AntiVirus up to date". Online security is much more about building an attitude of awareness that makes you think every time before you "click" on some link or icon or button. This initiative may seem commendable but regretably the risks far outweigh the perceived benefits. It is a bit like giving someone a car, putting them on the M1 and telling them "Leeds is that way, enjoy the drive", before they have ever taken a driving lesson. The criminals will be overjoyed at the prospect of another 8 million untrained, unskilled and above all unaware users going online where they can Spam them, Scam them and Clone them. Did Martha Lane Fox ever think of asking an IT expert for their opinion before diving in headfirst? Probably not.
    • J
      J  •  6 months ago
      For any older people who would like to get to know more about computers and the internet - Age Concern run free basic computer awareness courses for people over 50. They are small groups so plenty of one to one and they make them fun to overcome solitude felt by some older people who live alone. There is no pressure and you can do the course again and again until you think you have mastered it. Contact your local age concern office if your interested - never mind about lastminute what ever it is, thats just gravy train social conscience gimmicking.
    • paul w
      paul w  •  6 months ago
      in my block of flats i often email the 80 yr old lady below me to check she is ok i ciuld knock on door but to me if she is not ok she has to force herself up to get to door

      on intenrent she can reply to me easier without too much discomfort ok at times and in include me even emailing can add to pain in my case i could not email if having a bad migraine looking at pc would add to pain

      but its useful if i have not seen her

      mmond you she goies on holiday 3 ytimes a yr works at times in charity shop and goes bowling despite her cancers and things

      whereas i rarely go out form ore than two hours a day and am scared of most life and things around me and i am 46 so it shows you she does her stuff and i dont itys just howe i am with my dissablities and how she is with hers
    • Sandpot
      Sandpot  •  6 months ago
      Yahoo can you get rid of these stupid adverts for partners and sex.
    • Bobcat
      Bobcat  •  6 months ago
      Elderly Granny over the phone to David Cameron.....

      "I don't mind freezing to death if I've got the internet,
      maybe I could post my slow death through hypothermia
      and starvation on you-tube, and become famous. What
      do you think, David, is that a good idea?"
    • European
      European  •  7 months ago
      I have colleagues who are perfectly happy not to use a computer.
    • The Witness
      The Witness  •  6 months ago
      In the present financial climate where OAP's are having to chose between heating and eating, how could anyone imagine that they'll want to spend cash getting online? What a stupid article!
    • 444
      444  •  6 months ago
      I use the Internet quite regularly, but I know perfectly well that only about 1% of it is much use. I buy even more DVD's, CD's, and books than I really need. Most discussions or conversations you try to have with people, about politics or religion or anything serious, over the Internet turn out to be with raving lunatics. People are no more likely to reply to an e-mail than they are to a letter through the post. I like to get my news from the New York Times rather than the television, but that's about it really. You don't really need on-line banking (most people are too scared of being hacked anyway.) As for finding friends over the Internet... 50 years ago, Tony Hancock invested £500 in his radio ham equipment. 'I have friends I can talk with all over the world. All over the world!... None in this country, but all over the world...' Television has isolated people enough - the Internet is making it even worse. You just have to listen to people talking in pubs or on trains to realise that the Internet may have provided them with 'information,' but made them more ignorant and stupid than ever. Use the Internet with great care. The sight of that old dear in her 80's being brainwashed into 'needing' the Internet by some boring computer 'adviser' makes me feel quite ill. Use with great care. Unless you really like sitting up until 4 in the morning playing Hearts on your laptop...
    • anthony
      anthony  •  6 months ago
      Age UK would be better employed in getting cheaper heating for the elderly. Not much heat generated by a laptop!!
    • EDWARD
      EDWARD  •  6 months ago
      As a 77 years old former electronics engineer who started working with computers in 1973, I have taught the subject and know that older people pick up things easily. But, there is a large number of pensioners who just don't want a computer for various reasons. Some lack funds, others can see no use for one, others have some sort of fear of the thing. Despite, in one case having family scattered around southern UK, all on internet, Mum does not want the computer which would help her keep in touch with family. The family would provide her with a laptop - but NO, she does not want it. You can't make people take this up and so until the present users get older I'm afraid that things won't change very much.
    • wes14r
      wes14r  •  7 months ago
      So this is dave's big society. Push people into doing what they dont want to do. If people want they will get it. If they cant afford it why push them towards it.Trying to get people into more debt as when they get on a computer they will want to buy one. Plus you have the problem of vunable being ripped of when something goes wrong to get back up and runing.
    • Tom
      Tom  •  7 months ago
      ln our road 30 years ago we were the only one who had the phone,and the only reason the GPO would let me have one as l was 'on call' as a shop manager, for that we had to pay a very large bill to get put in,the other people in our road lived without a phone were happy,they went to work,shopped,had holidays, the children played and learned at schools with books, it's the same with computers many people are happy not get involed with having one.l think of those who so far have not got one will end with problems with one and l'm sure older people will be better without getting involved with one,for one item to be on line is not free,if there is a free way tell me Please.As for help, l'd did go to a course at a library and they did not tell me about blocking calls,but BT helped me but by then l was getting a bill of many hundreds,so a little knowledge is more dangerous than knowing nothing.
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