volunteers

Financially-related digital support afternoons – 10 & 17 August 2022

Wednesday 10 August

NB: these events have finished.

This was the first of two urgent sessions for older people who need help to apply for Council tax energy rebate or Pension Credit and cost of living payment — before it is too late to claim.

35 people turned up — most needing this extra support — so we were very busy. Even with nine helpers (including the industrious CSR team from Methods), we had not quite finished, so we will carry on next week.

We didn’t have time to make photos.

R.I.P. Derek Prince

From 2006 until overwhelmed by illness, Derek was the mobile tech guru for older people.

Derek passed away Tuesday 19 July 2022.

Nobody has made a greater contribution to real social and digital inclusion in this area.

Photo: 50+ Digital Drop-in, Open School East (Rose Lipman building) – December 2014.

Note (16 August 2022) from John …

A very quiet man, always ready to help with us with our phones and laptop problems.

I certainly benefited along with a great many others with his help.

Considering the bewildering problems we came up against with our gadgets, it never seemed to faze Derek, and we invariably walked away content with his solutions.

Thank you Derek for being there.

Well remembered.

 

Also …

Left to right – Stephen, Trevor, Derek (December 2009)
Derek with Posh Club flyer, Open School East (January 2015)
Derek in action at Open School East (December 2014)

Return of the volunteer teams – Methods – 13 July 2022

Volunteer teams from city firms have always – for least 12 years – been the most popular attraction at the digital drop-in. Then the pandemic stopped all CSR events – even before the first lockdown.

So we were delighted to welcome our first team for three years, from Methods — who provided effective 1:1 help for at least 15 older people — and incidentally reduced the pressure on our regular peer support team, so the total number helped was more than 30.