Inclusion Lab

For real older people who do not think digitally

What is Inclusion Lab?

Inclusion Lab is a Friday afternoon Learning Together project until the end of June 2024 — and it’s for you …

  • if you are, or are becoming: economically-active, creatively-active, community-active, or perhaps even an activist
  • if you would like support and guidance towards achieving a real-world goal that is not digital — and that you have already started
  • if you know that you may have to navigate a few digital potholes on the road to your non-digital destination.

What happens on Friday afternoon – so far

A small, flexible group (usually up to 8 people) discovering the potential of the internet to enhance their real world – for their own goals and for the group – and finding new doors waiting to be opened.

So far – the group is almost full – and everyone has a different reason for being in it. Their digital competence varies a lot, but it doesn’t matter – what they have in common is a goal that represents who they are in the real world.

So far – we are pleased that the goals include challenging disadvantage and other words beginning with dis (eg- disability, discrimination).

How to join

Tell us about your real-world goal (or ask a question) in an email to hello@50pd.uk

Then wait for a reply. Because we prepare learning resources for individual participants, we must know that you are coming.


The EdTech project

It’s happening. We expect to have new hardware after Easter. We will replace the very large dropdown projector screen with a portable 43″ screen that can compete with the sunlight in the Mildmay Community Centre hall.

We already have the software we need to support our emphasis on experience, vision and discussion – rather than mere instruction.


What Inclusion Lab is not

Inclusion Lab is …

  • not a drop-in
  • not a course
  • not a repeat of previous ‘employability’ projects
  • not primarily about acquiring new digital skills
  • not something we expect you to do every Friday
  • nothing like the previous Friday afternoon project (Learn My Way).

Community Research Project at the Drop-in

Something you will really want to be part of

NB: these activities have now finished.

Wednesday 8 November 2023, 1-4 pm

Following up the visits on 20 & 27 September 2023.

This is a high-level, very professional research project that we have been invited to join as specialists in helping older people understand, us, or cope with digital technology – as we get older, not just right now.

In their own words …

We are committed to helping to improve things for older people, and give them a chance to contribute and have an impact. One of the ways we do this is through building relationships and partnerships with specialist organisations, such as yours. We strongly advocate the inclusion and accessibility of all individuals, businesses, organisations in user research. By including these valuable voices, we can ensure that our platforms, products and services meet the needs of a diverse group of people and communities and that we do not leave anyone behind.

With informed consent, we would like to invite people to join our community. This community will receive regular invitations to participate in future research sessions. We will offer people who take part in research a small incentive voucher, as a token of our gratitude for their time and participation.

We have stringent privacy, data handling, safeguarding and ethics protocols and policies in place to ensure the rights, welfare and dignity of all research participants.

The researchers have arranged a special Online Shopping activity for you on Wednesday 8 November. They are all remarkably young and brilliant. Worth coming for. They will also bring ‘refreshments’.

Friday Learn My Way

Friday afternoon Learn My Way

  • Mildmay Community Centre – September 2023 to January 2024.
  • Learn My Way is an online resource for digital beginners, people learning for the first time, people who want to learn again — and people who might not be beginners, but would like to help others who are.
  • During February 2024, we will integrate the Learn My Way project with Wednesday afternoon Digital Drop-in.

See also page: Learning – courses and workshops

Making content for the web

Maker Mondays (Creative Together), 2-4 pm

For creative senior citizens who want to make a difference – at Mildmay Community Centre – Monday afternoons until November 2023.

Learn how to make content for the web

A web presence could be a website, a blog, social media, podcast, internet radio, photo gallery, or something else you think would be helpful – or all of those things. And it always starts with content.

Your content could be writing, art work, photos, video, podcast, radio, or whatever you can think of – to promote yourself, a project, or even a business idea. Or perhaps creating an online community of people you know.

We can help you with ideas like that — most Monday afternons at Mildmay Community Centre.

Do your own thing?

Other people — we are happy to have you there doing your own thing — it’s part of our plan.

Where and when

  • Mildmay Community Centre.
  • Monday afternoons – 2 to 4 pm.

Questions, comments, etc

  • Email to learning@50pd.uk

Exploring digital photos

Three head-and-shoulders photographs of a young woman. The first is the original. The second is a cropped close-up with balanced colour and the background removed. The third is a desaturated monochrome version with text

Hands-on with digital photos

For creative senior citizens who want a result – at Mildmay Community Centre – Monday afternoons in June 2023

NB: this activity has finished.

This is about understanding digital photos (and other images), so that you can use them effectively. We will provide the laptops and the initial photos. Keep reading …

On this page:
LearnExperience When & whereSign up


What you will learn

Some example activities

Basic image handling refresher – how to –
  • Recognise an image file on your device.
  • Download from a website.
  • Upload to a website.
  • Attach to an email.
Simple photo editing – how to –
  • Crop and resize.
  • Adjust colour, brightness, contrast.
  • Change image format.
Specific uses – how to –
  • Optimise a photo for email, website, blog or social media.
Bonus result
  • You will learn a lot more about the World Wide Web and how to use a web browser.

What you will experience


Sign up first

NB: this activity has finished.

Learning level

  • Not suitable for digital beginners, or anyone who needs 1:1 help.
  • Main guideline: you should have an email address that you know how to use without help (that’s why sign-up is by email only).

Bring your own laptop? Ok, provided that –

  • You tell us you will bring your own.
  • You must know how to use it (please understand that we cannot provide 1:1 help with your device).

By the way

  • This is not about managing or moving your photo collection.

Organised by MRS – Independent Living (MRS-IL) – Digital Confidence project – 50pd.uk

Food hub at Mildmay, 23 May 2023

Mildmay Community Radio

Talking about food, on the garden deck

NB: this activity has finished.

Tuesday 23 May, 2 – 3:30 pm

A sunshiny event with people involved in the Mildmay Food Hub and Community Cook-up projects.

Is that you? Come and talk to us about what you do and how the food projects help local residents.

Everyone else is welcome, especially if you volunteer at any other community food project.

Mildmay Community Radio launch, May 2023

Two community radio launches

NB: these workshops have finished.

Our plans for the launch of Mildmay Community Radio – from the garden deck of the centre – have been thwarted several times by unusually adverse weather. We can’t do al fresco radio if it’s cold or wet outside.

So we will launch it twice and you are invited to both …

  • Indoors: a pre-launch activity in the main hall, Monday 15 May, 2-4 pm.
  • Outdoors: the planned launch on the garden deck, Tuesday 16 May, 2-3:30 pm.

Pre-launch: community digital radio is easy

Monday 15 May, 2 – 4 pm

This will be a normal Monday afternoon learning event in the main hall. We will demonstrate the equipment we use for internet radio and podcasts — and hopefully convince you that this is something you could do yourself at home. Everybody can have a go.

It will be live internet radio, not a short podcast episode. The acoustics on the main hall are not good, so professional sound quality will not be on the menu – but we will at least have got something started.

We have also set up all our training phones to pick up the live stream. So you will have an easy way to listen (though not yet to phone in).

Actual launch: open air internet radio

Tuesday 16 May, 2 – 3:30 pm

We can do this on the garden deck (outside the café area) – provided the weather is on our side. The outdoor acoustics are usually excellent, and our equipment can handle most intrusive noises.

The provisional topic is Mildmay Community Centre itself – and what older people can achieve there.

What actually happens

Everyone who turns up is a part of fluid studio audience. But not all at once. We have 4 microphones, so up to 4 people can be part of the conversation – while the others wait their turn.

The conversation picked up by the microphones is streamed to an online radio server. Anyone who knows the link can listen.

By the way – here is the link: live.radiotogether.uk (when there is no live talk stream, the server just sends a loop of recorded birdsong).

Internet radio: pure digital partcipation

You don’t need any digital skills to participate. The important skills are the skills you have been learning for decades – talking and listening, sharing your life experiences as an older person who remembers life before the internet.

Got questions or suggestions?

Bring them to the Monday event.