Get connected with Get Online Week drop-ins

A LOCAL charity is helping people in Melksham get to grips with the internet as part of a national ‘Get Online Week’.

The Learning Curve, based at Challeymead Business Park, will be hosting a drop-in at Forest Community Centre, and another at Studley Green People’s Place in Trowbridge.

Get Online Week – the UK’s biggest digital inclusion campaign – runs from Monday 12th to Sunday 18th October and aims to help thousands of people see how the internet can make almost anything a little easier.

From staying healthy or finding work, to saving money and having fun, there are lots of ways that being online can make life a little bit easier, and the team at The Learning Curve are running free drop-in sessions to help internet beginners take their first steps online.

The sessions will be held at: • Forest Community Centre, Melksham on Monday 12th October at 11.30am to 4pm • People’s Place, Studley Green, Trowbridge, Thursday 15th October at 12noon to 4pm

Joanne Hine is community learning coordinator at The Learning Curve.

Joanne said, “If you’ve got a spare hour, we’re on hand to show you how getting online could save you time, hassle and even money. Whether you want to get healthy, get connected, get a job or get a bargain, you could be doing it all – and more – by doing it online. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never even touched a computer before or if you already know a bit – this is your chance to give computers and the internet a go. It’s fun, it’s free, and it could change how you do your favourite things – and your everyday chores – forever! Come along to one of our events and see what you could do with technology, and what technology could do for you.”

For people who can’t attend these events, The Learning Curve also runs free Get Online courses at libraries across the county. It was at one of these courses that learners Doreen Milner, 78, and Stella Cruse, 80, from Devizes first developed their new internet skills – and their friendship.

Doreen and Stella were chosen to be Get Online Week ambassadors, and have inspired thousands of others across the country to get online.

Stella said, “There’s no denying that when you know practically nothing about computers the first few sessions are quite hard work. Fortunately we’ve never been afraid of hard work, and now Doreen and I can do all sorts of things online that we’d never even imagined.”

To read more about Doreen and Stella or for more information about Get Online week events across the country, visit www.getonlineweek.com or contact The Learning Curve on 01225 792500.