Silver Surfers' Day Success in Epsom
Silver Surfers' Day took place on Friday 21st May 2010 as part of the national Adult Learners' Week. Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership organised two events in the Epsom area to encourage more older people to get computer literate, online and having a go at surfing the internet.
InterGenEpsom at the Longmead Centre
There was a lot to celebrate at the event held at the Longmead centre in Sefton Road. Epsom. The event marked one year of computer courses being held continually four times a week at the Longmead centre for local residents aged 65+. From a drop-in session twelve months ago, strong partnership working has emerged with partners the Workers Educational Association and Nescot College now delivering IT learning in the community at the Centre. Since May 2009 over 100 beginners have made huge progress with their IT skills.
As a result of such interest and engagement, a group of local residents were supported by Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership to form a constituted community group 'InterGenEpsom' and apply for funding for their own computer equipment. Where learning at the Longmead Centre had previously taken place on laptops loaned by the Partnership, learners in Epsom are now benefitting from their own dedicated suite of computers purchased from a grant from Cllrs Jan Mason and Colin Taylor and through Comic Relief funding via Surrey Community Foundation.
At the Silver Surfers' Day event Cllrs Mason and Taylor came to officially launch the laptops and celebrate one year of Silver Surfing at the Longmead by blowing out the candle and cutting a cake that was shared with all participants. They participated in the computer session led by Simon Blewitt (WEA tutor) and talked to learners to hear about the learning journeys they had all made.
InterGenEpsom has plans to bid for more funding to be able to offer more courses to the elderly but also to ensure that other community groups are able to benefit from the use of the laptops.
Silver Surfing at the Wells Centre
Members of the Wells Centre, Spa Drive, Epsom have responded enthusiastically to the TransformIT project offered by Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership during Spring 2010, with two classes having been offered on a Friday and one on a Wednesday afternoon to meet demand.
The demand was however so great that after the project finished, unmet demand still existed. The Silver Surfers' event on 21 May 2010 was for those who had not yet had the opportunity to join a class at the Wells to have a go at using a computer to see if they wanted to sign up for a course.
The tutor, Emma, had been at the forefront of taking previous learner groups through Online Basics courses during the TransformIT project. Learners from courses held in the spring had praised Emma’s patient teaching style so they and their friends were delighted to see her back in the training room, this time as a tutor for Nescot College. Learners were also delighted with the free linen Adult Learners' Week bags filled with goodies from Digital Unite that they were presented with.
The learners who took part in the event said they couldn’t wait to come back, so SLLP and Nescot are now hard at work, ensuring that another group of Wells members can experience the satisfaction of getting to grips with technology.
Contact Us
For more information on these events please contact Rebecca Court, Community Learning Adviser, at rebecca.court@surreyllp.org.uk or phone 01483 481789.
