East Yorkshire based wireless internet service provider, Quickline Communications is helping local people feel more confident in using the internet and the devices needed to access it as they support Get Online Week.
As the UK’s biggest annual digital inclusion campaign, Get Online Week has been supported at events across the UK; in libraries, village halls, Job centres and more. Staff and volunteers have helped people to take their next step toward being a confident, capable and safe user of the internet and to #try1thing.
Hayley Silvester from Quickline says:
“We know that cyber security is a big concern, especially when it comes to online banking and paying for items with a credit card but also, the use of technology – mobile devices and computers are a barrier. We are showing local people how easy it is to use an iPad to download music, make a video call or do their banking or supermarket shop online.”
“In particular, Quickline provides superfast wireless broadband in Beverley, and to rural communities where traditional telecoms companies are unable to reach, and often find some people haven’t even considered using the internet, but what a difference it makes to their lives to video call a grandchild or download some long-forgotten music.”
Beverley resident Prue Blake is already a Quickline customer and although she has been using social media for some time, wasn’t keen on online banking. Quickline went to visit Mrs Blake at home and asked her to #try1thing.
She said:
“I had been a bit of a dinosaur and didn’t really trust online banking but my daughter said it would save me so much time, instead of going backwards and forwards to carry out simple transactions and to stop writing cheques. My bank sent me a fob and I got set up straight away. I have to say, it really is so much easier, I can manage everything from the comfort of my own home.”
Get Online Week has been organised by Good Things Foundation, whose Online Centres Network shows that once people are supported to take the first step, they can be confident enough to try one more thing, and then another, setting them on the path to regular internet usage and all the benefits that this can bring.
Helen Milner OBE, Chief Executive of Good Things Foundation, the charity behind Get Online Week, said:
“Using Facebook or checking the weather online isn’t enough to make someone a truly digital citizen. Millions of people are still missing out on the huge benefits the internet can offer.
“Campaigns like Get Online Week not only help to raise awareness of digital exclusion, still a huge problem even in 2017, but also reach new people still nervous about doing more online and help them find they support they need to take that next step. We believe in a world where everyone can benefit from digital, and Get Online Week is critical in encouraging thousands of people to explore the internet for the first time.”
