As October begins we are happy to announce two new Community Tech Support drop-in sessions for local residents.

From this Thursday 10.00-12.00 we will be opening the doors in Loughborough Junction at The Platform Café, 2 Ridgway Rd, London SW9 7AH.

More info

For those that don’t know this venue, they are opposite the Loughborough Farm and do a fantastic range of homemade, healthy lunches as well as community workshops.

Throughout the pandemic we have found our support is more naturally placed with food projects and are glad to continue this work.

From Tuesday 12^th 1.30-3.30 we will be at Age UK Croydon, 81 Brigstock Road CR7 7JH.

More info

Drop in for individual help with laptops, tablets or mobile phones. We can help you solve problems, show you how to do things and give friendly advice.

Click here for all our drop-in support sessions including Crystal Palace and the Kingswood Estate.

We return to the Kingswood Community Shop with an autumn programme of digital classes, talks and support on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.

Starting this Wednesday 10am-12 noon with our Community Tech Support, we provide FREE drop-in support help for your computer, tablet or mobile phone.

So if you are having a problem using your device or have a question you want answered? Pop in for a chat and a cup of tea!

Full programme 

TUESDAYS

OPEN DAY

19^th October 10am to 12 noon

• Find out about our upcoming courses and register interest as part of Get Online Week.
• Hear a short talk “Intro to staying safe for parents.”

FAMILY SAFETY ONLNE

2^nd November – 7^th December 10am to 12 noon

• 6 week course to learn the basics of staying safe online for the family
• Topics include: Managing social media, keeping devices safe, how to deal with issues, parental controls and advice for young people.

WEDNESDAYS

COMMUNITY TECH SUPPORT

Wednesdays 29^th Sept – 27th Oct 10am to 12 noon

• Do you have a problem or a question about your laptop, tablet or mobile phone?
• An opportunity to get some friendly advice or to practise with support
• Just drop In!

http://clearcommunityweb.co.uk/event/community-tech-support-kingswood-community-shop/all/

ACCESSING THE NHS DIGITALLY (Tea and Tech Talk)

Wednesday 3^rd November 10am to 12 noon

• Using the NHS App
• How to book appointments and get prescriptions online
• A chance to ask questions

DIGITAL HORIZONS – Intro to using a tablet

10^th November – 15^th December 10am to 12 noon

• 6 week course to learn the basics of using an android tablet or iPAD.
• Come and try for the first time
• Topics include: Using apps, accessing email, communicating and finding information online.

REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED

For further information and to register for one or more of these events then call  020 8670 1578 or email kingswood@cpct.org.uk

Since lockdown started to lift we have been keen to provide drop-in assistance for those local residents who either want t speak to someone face to face or prefer a more social environment to get answers to their questions.

Since August we have been running our Community Tech Support Drop Ins at the Upper Norwood Library on Fridays. We have been helping with voice activating on an Android Tablet, fixing a troublesome phone and testing a webcam on an old laptop.

Combined with our Mobile Phone Bootcamp we have been helping an average of 15 local residents a week with fantastic assistance from our volunteers.

Building upon this we are excited to announce 2 new days and 2 new venues!

Wednesdays 10-12 from 29^th September

Kingswood Community Shop, Kingswood Estate

Thursdays 10-12 from 7^th October

Thursdays 10-12 Platform Café, Loughborough Junction

We can help with Mobile Phones, Laptops, Tablets and well as giving friendly advice. If you need help in how to use something or just a little confidence building, then come and have a chat over a cup of tea.

Click here for ALL of our Drop In Support Sessions

Following on from the success of our previous loan programme, we have successfully secured further funding to be able to extend and reach out to support families in need of laptops.

During our first cohort, we were able to support a handful of local residents by providing laptops for remote learning, job applications and to freshen up their digital skills.

One resident has been able to access Zoom classes and keep up with meetings on his laptop, even taking it with him on holiday which allowed him to stay connected.

Another resident has been using his loan to take part in a technology course at Lambeth College, has been able to use it to complete assignments as well as make a CV and successfully apply for a part-time job at a Dental Surgery.

“I have no words to say thanks, it’s beyond thanks”

The next stage of this programme is to reach out and support families with children who are in need of laptops to support their remote learning. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted an already existing gap in support for families unable to access devices. Both primary and secondary schools require students to complete their homework online, access learning portals, and during isolation or lockdowns, attend classes online.

With the future of the pandemic still uncertain, support for families needing computer access at home is still critical.

We know that families who don’t have access to the devices they need have been dealing with extra stress and anxiety struggling to take turns on a single slow computer, or straining to do their homework on a tiny phone screen. We hope that with these laptop loans we can help families access the resources they need and take some of the pressure off so they can focus on what’s important to them.

We have a small number of laptops available for short and medium-term loans. Alongside this we are able to provide one-to-one support and signposting to other helpful resources in the community.

“This is a good scheme for people who haven’t got a laptop or for people who can’t afford to go out and buy them at the moment.”

This project has been funded by the Lambeth Digital Inclusion fund and our ongoing support by the Thrale RIN fund.

If you live in Lambeth and have children; you work in a school who would like to talk to us; or know of anyone who could benefit from this scheme, then more info can be found here.

We’ve been little quiet of late as we have been working back out in the community.

Mondays and Wednesdays we can been seen at the Tessa Jowell Health Centre or Blackfriars Settlement alongside Link Age Southwark delivering a program of ‘Digital Awareness’ talks to help older people build confidence either access the internet for the first time or to fill in some of the niggling gaps in knowledge we all have.

Being safe online and managing email better are core subjects for us, building upon Essential Digital Skills.

We’ve run activities on checking password strengths, having a strategy about what you share or not within a personal profile, recovering passwords and using maps and journey planning – all really useful stuff!

It’s been fantastic to meet some people in person – some we know, some we know of and some new faces completely.

It’s also been an opportunity to spend individual time again with people in a more social setting and we have a lot more to come.

These sessions with Link Age Southwark will continue in September to please check our calendar for further information and how to book.

http://clearcommunityweb.co.uk/calendar/