The internet is part of everyday life for most people in Scotland so having digital skills has a lot of benefits.
We can keep in touch with friends and family, save a lot of money (an average of £800 per household per year), develop new skills, find and apply for jobs and keep our personal information and passwords safe. However, 20% of the Scottish population don’t have all the essential digital skills and 7% of the Scottish population have none!
People in social housing are 20% less likely to have these digital skills but luckily staff at Berwickshire Housing Association (BHA) can help!
BHA can now support tenants to improve their digital skills, build their confidence and motivation and embed digital interaction into existing work or run dedicated activities. That’s because they are part of SCVO’s ‘Digital Champions in Social Housing Project’ and have created a team of Digital Champions to help improve tenants’ confidence levels with digital.
BHA is planning to run a pilot programme in Coldstream whereby the Digital Champions will be hosting workshops in Coldstream Community Centre in an effort to help people become more digitally confident.
There will be two sessions held on Saturday, March 14th, in the Community Centre, Coldstream, from 10am to 12.30pm and from 1.30pm to 4pm. There will also be an evening workshop at the same venue on Wednesday, March 18th, from 4pm to 7pm.
The workshops will include a variety of topics including: Setting up e-mail addresses, showing tenants how to get on-line banking and banking apps, showing tenants how to use search engines, how to connect with family through social media, how to use on-line switching and comparison tools as well as doing job searches and applying for benefits on-line.
If the event proves to be a success it is hoped to role the programme out to other towns and villages throughout Berwickshire.
If you are interested in attending the pilot workshop keep an eye out for the leaflet through your letterbox.