Partners

We work closely with a variety of delivery, referring and consulting partners.

If you are interested in discussing how we can work together then please contact us.

Funders

The following either currently fund us or have funded us in the past:

We sometimes forget we all have to start at the be

We sometimes forget we all have to start at the beginning and isn’t that where the magic is?

To see a reply to a first text can genuinely bring amazement but also a confidence that we can all participate and join in.

We have seen technology can in itself be isolating and counterproductive; we still need the 'human' to help cross the bridge or open the door.

This is exactly why we have created our Mobile Phone Boot Camps - a fun and social way to practice new things and learn the fundamentals without feeling rushed or alone.

We are at the Wellness Centre again this Friday 14.00-16.00 in Croydon's Whitgift Centre with our friends the Croydon BME Forum.

If you know someone who would benefit or you would like to help, contact us to find out more

#croydoncommunity #croydonlearning #olderpeoplenetwork #croydon #CR1 #CR0
#thorntonheath #broadgreen #smartphone #mobilephone #confidence #mentalhealth

Mental Health Awareness Week highlights the plight

Mental Health Awareness Week highlights the plight of loneliness this year and is an opportunity for us to look back through some of the people we helped in lockdown and were they are now.

We first met P right at the beginning when he was trying to learn how to use Zoom and to connect with support staff. With significant challenges of his own, the anxiety of Covid combined with the separation from there was almost too much.

He was one of the beneficiaries of a laptop loan programme we ran. He has since helped us upcycle old donated tech and volunteered to assist with a project at Age UK Croydon.

However, through this confidence building he has gone on to create his own peer support network for adults with long terms medical conditions suffering from mental health and has joined a writing group. We just found out yesterday that one of his first scripts is to be performed on stage by professional actors …. So watch this space.

If you are unsure about the impact providing digital support and access to equipment can make to a person in need – you need not go any further it is right here!

#fixthedigitaldivide #digitalinclusion #digitalskills #techdonation
#mentalhealth #mentalhealthawarenessweek #learningdifficulties #autism #autismawareness #learningdisabilities #loneliness #endloneliness

As Mental Health Awareness Week is launched, this

As Mental Health Awareness Week is launched, this year it focusses on tackling loneliness.

During lockdown we supported Chrys to get a donated phone after he damaged his other one.

He finds music and singing to be the very thing to help him through his dark times. What he didn't realise was that his very singing also kept his neighbours upbeat.

Mental health issue can make you feel alone but we can all affect the people around us positively without realising it.

#mentalhealth #mentalhealthawarenessweek #learningdificulties #learningdisabilities #lonliness #endloneliness

@croydonmencap
@bromleymencap
@certitude.london
@disabilityadviceservicelambeth
@millennium_community_solutions
mentalhealth_community

Questions about smart phones come in regularly.

Questions about smart phones come in regularly.

It's all very well saying

"you just need to explore a bit" or

"swipe there , then there and tap that , there you go, you must have, no hold on .... ive shown you that already don't you remember"

If you are new to using a mobile phone and you don't know what it can do then how can you explore?

If we go too fast and get frustrated , not only is it difficult to pick up, it squashes confidence and enthusiasm

We all need to have our own motivation to learn new things and we need encouragement, this is why we created our 'Mobile Phone Boot Camp' format!

Our social events encourage small group activities, helping each other and working through practical and useful things with a smart phone. We all learn something

Join us and the Croydon BME Forum at the Wellness Centre, Whitgift Centre in Croydon on the 20th May 14.00-1600

#croydoncommunity #croydonlearning #olderpeoplenetwork #croydon #CR1 #CR0
#thorntonheath #broadgreen

See link in Bio

And so today we are at the Moorland Community Cent

And so today we are at the Moorland Community Centre with a whole bunch of other organizations to celebrate the opening of the Southwyck Pantry here. 🥂🎉🎈

The Southwyck Pantry, part of the Healthy Living Platform provides a community priced food for residents in needs as well an informal point for social prescribing, and part of Thriving Vassall Coldharbour.🍉🌽🍏🍎

It’s a great show of dedication by many of the local groups and services who have represented long and hard through the lockdown and have come out the other side building bridges and trust with each other and local residents. 🥉

For us it is a new chapter for our Community Tech Support drop-ins. Due to a pending refurbishment we had had to sat goodbye for now to the Platform Café. Since last September we have supported many local resets build confidence with their phone and laptops, distributed donated and loan devices and signposted to other assistance.💻🖱️🖥️🔌

For the next 12 weeks our home will be here at Moorlands Community Centre every Thursday BUT with a difference!

This will be our first project working alongside a dedicated Wellbeing Ambassador who will help us build and develop our community connections in Lambeth (Thank you so much Age UK Lambeth & Lambeth Council for this opportunity).

This will also be our first regular donation point for our new project with Community Tech Aid – Drop in to drop off! If you have an old laptop, tablet or mobile phone and don’t know where to recycle it or you would like it to go to a good home, you can pop it along to any of our weekly drop-ins to ensure it gets into the right hands.

Community Tech Aid are the leading lights in Lambeth; upcycling, recycling and donated back to families and residents in need. They have a strong sense of advocacy with both sustainability and community at the heart, thank you Linda, Cat, Jim, Steph and all of the volunteers for this work!

Lets go to work!

#lambethcommunity #lambeth #sustainability #brixton #coldharbour #upcycling

@living_platform @communitytechaid @lambeth_council
@platformcafe.lj
@thrivestreatham
@lindajheid

Since January we have been working with Kings Coll

Since January we have been working with Kings College students to help design a research project to enable us to understand the triggers in anxiety caused by using technology and in particular around online safety.

We all feel uneasy when we‘re faced with something new or there is something we don’t quite understand, however we also noticed that our devices themselves or the internet can be even more frustrating or worse.

So what if we were able to dig deep and understand this in more detail and even provide a set of tools helping people to take a step back, think the problem through and use this to build confidence?

Well, that is our plan, and using research gained directly from interviews and surveys from over 100 people we will run a series of ‘Safety Surgeries’ later in the using helping residents overcome some of these challenges by sharing experience and small group activities.

The Civic Challenge was an opportunity to bring this idea to life and lean upon the expertise of students in this field. A HUGE thanks goes to Cristian Escudero for leading on this project at Kings College and we are excited to see where this will take us.

It was also a perfect moment for our Programme Coordinator for Community Tech Support, Eve Miller-Biot, getting this over the line after recently becoming full time with us.

Watch this space!

#KingsLocal #SocialValue #CivicChallenge #LambethCommunity #WestminsterCommunity #SouthwarkCommunity

So does this sound familiar? “Nani, I showed yo

So does this sound familiar?

“Nani, I showed you that last week, for the tenth time, why cant you remember?”

Or how about this?

“I can’t right now, I’m busy”

Or how about?

“It’s really easy, why don’t you understand it?”

For many older people looking to family members for advice or help with their mobile phone or laptop this is exactly what they hear.

However, in turn, we hear:

“The younger generation go too fast, they do not have time for us”

And

“We are not stupid, we have learned complicated things, we just don’t understanding this bit and we are being forced to use it”

As well as

“This technology business is the future but we don’t know where to start”

All of this can make you stressed and when you are stressed it’s hard to concentrate and learn new things.

So we created the Mobile Phone Boot Camp; an opportunity for older people to go right back to basics and learn fundamentals such as changing settings, checking email, using maps or installing apps whilst practicing in small groups.

Even better, helping each other!

📆 See Calendar in bio for dates

#croydon #purley #southcroydon #eastcroydon #westcroydon #thorntonheath #croydonlife #cronx #norwood #croydondigital #croydontech #croydonclasses #croydonevents #croydoncommunity #croydontogether #croydonliving #mobilephone #smartphone

@age_uk_croydon @thewellnesscentrecroydon @croydonbmeforum
@arccltd
@croydonnbrhoods

📣 📢 🔊 Stepping out the other side of East

📣 📢 🔊 Stepping out the other side of Easter, we have a full programme of activities in Croydon designed to help build confidence and awareness and digital technology and provide critical support.

Our Connect UP course has been a success so far in Crystal Palace. A six-week introduction to using email, searching safely, connecting by Zoom and using ‘Learn My Way’ has been funded by the Good Things Foundation

“The tutor is patient, down to earth and made the class fun as well as realistic by using simple jargon. The classes have built my confidence with my dyslexia. Thank you. Thank you”

We have 3 new cohorts announced. Start dates, times and venues below:
📆 From 19th April 13.30-15.30 at Age UK Croydon, Thornton Heath
🗓️ From 20th April 10.00-12.00 at Upper Norwood Library Hub
📅 From 9th June 14.00-16.00 at Wellness Centre, Whitgift Centre, Croydon

🖲️ See link to BIO for Calendar

We also return with our Mobile Phone Boot Camps, this time at the Wellness Centre, Whitgift Centre in partnership with the Croydon BME Forum.

We have 3 monthly dates announced starting on Friday 22nd April 14.00-16.00.
🖲️
See link to BIO for Calendar

And finally, we continue our weekly Community Tech Support drop ins at both Age UK Croydon (Tuesdays) and Upper Norwood Library Hub (Fridays)

Full details are here
🖲️📣📢📣📢 See link to BIO for Calendar

Enjoy your Easter!