A NEW group hopes to tackle a growing issue in Saddleworth – digital exclusion.
The world may be moving online and paperless, but not everyone is able to fully thrive in it.
Working a mobile phone or tablet or knowing how apps operate, especially managing banking through devices, is a bigger issue than many may think.
As the population gets older, more people do not, cannot or, in some cases, will not go digital.
Now what is dubbed Inclusive Saddleworth has been established to help embrace the online world and make clear it is not as daunting as some fear.
The brainchild of Austerlands’ Rob Knotts, Saddleworth West and Lees Councillor Alicia Marland and Greenfield’s Chris Mills, the message of the free service, which begins in the new year, is simply, ‘We’re here to help.’
“I go to the Holy Trinity church in Dobcross and an elderly widow, who lives alone, had an accident and was frightened to go out,” recalled Rob.
“She lives alone and has nobody to talk to all winter. I thought, ‘You know, she’s obviously lonely. There must be an awful lot of other people in the same boat.’
“I came up with all sorts of figures. I reckon in the Saddleworth area, there are about 1,600 people affected – and we’re talking elderly people.
“It’s a huge subject. So the three of us got together and said, ‘What shall we do? How shall we do it? What’s the best way to start?’
“Government stats show one in five elderly people who go to a doctor go there because they’re lonely. Digital exclusion is one element of it.
“We’ve got to be quite flexible, so we can say, ‘Right, this is how you use a mobile phone, this is what we can do and let’s explore some of the benefits.’
“I’m great if there’s a button A or a button B. Alicia came up to me and gave me an hour’s run through, which helped tremendously.
“On a computer, I can whizz it. On a mobile phone, I was against them at first up until three years ago. I just thought they’re very intrusive.
“It’s the way of the world and the way the world’s going. It’s causing quite a degree of resentment, particularly among the older generation, because it’s like now you’re forced to get doctor’s appointments online and things like that.
“Their opinion is, ‘It shouldn’t be like that.’ Our response to that is, ‘But it is like that. So what are you going to do about it?’
“The first thing we’ve got to do is gauge the size of the problem, then say, ‘What do you need to do? How do you need help?’
“We want to provide that bit of a bridge.”
Inclusive Saddleworth knows that while some people have embraced the digital world, others wish modern phones had kept the simplicity of old-fashioned technology.
They realise many elderly people feel frustrated and shut out, adding to feelings of loneliness.
According to Age UK, AbilityNet and Ofcom, most people aged 65–74 now own smartphones – yet 20–30 per cent still lack the skills or confidence to perform everyday tasks.
Which is where Alicia, Rob and Chris come in, with ideas including learning with peers in group sessions or being paired with younger family members or vetted volunteer ‘Tech Buddies.’
And Chris knows what is seen by some as a world they do not want to be in is nowhere near as scary as it is made out to be. He is a technical writer for some of the biggest digital firms on the planet.
He said: “I write technical documentation for clients like Google and Mozilla and have worked with tech companies for quite a long time.
“For me, I just want to do something valuable for my local community and give something back.
“And one part that’s very critically missed out in all of this is the very first step.
“If you’ve never even seen, say, an iPad before, how do you even start to use it? What gestures do you need to use? How do you unlock the damn thing?
“Most courses assume you all know the app. What if you don’t even know what an app is or how to install one?
“I’m going to start doing a whole bunch of work writing down course ideas for people to road test. First of all, the very basics.
“It’s like, ‘Let’s talk you through just basically using the thing comfortably and not being afraid of it.
“’Then let’s talk you through things that you need to know, such as making sure you install security updates, making sure you don’t keep clicking cancel when it tries to get you to do one.’
“A lot of people do because they don’t understand what it is, then also how not to fall foul of common scams and things.
“That’s one of the main reasons why people are so afraid of their devices. It’s not difficult to overcome such things with a little bit of knowledge.
“The next stage after that would be to deal with things like booking a doctor’s appointment.
“Those kinds of things would really go a long way to help people get sorted.
“Another part of this that I want to start promoting as well is combating loneliness through building online communities.
“For years we’ve talked about the internet as being a great leveller in terms of people with very severe disabilities accessing services and doing work.
“There’s no reason why you can’t extend that to the older generation. People that might not be able to get out so easily because they’re either uncomfortable getting out or they’ve got mobility problems.”
Cllr Marland’s involvement comes after working with the Re-Engage group in Oldham and seeing what isolation and loneliness can do.
She told Saddleworth Independent: “We pick up more than 75 elderly, isolated people, and take them to different people’s houses each month for tea parties.
“Some people do not want to be tech savvy, unfortunately, but it’s finding out from them what they want to just get them out of that isolation.
“And find out why they don’t use a mobile phone or the internet.
“I would just love to see more isolated people back into some form of communication and once the penny drops with them, they’ll find it’s probably far easier to reconnect with people around them than they thought.
“If they do come out and get that confidence, they might then think, ‘Actually, maybe I will get a mobile, or a laptop.’”
Obviously, promoting a group aiming to tackle digital exclusion will not all be done online, so expect notices in your area soon.
And Rob hopes the idea takes off and helps people in Saddleworth overcome fears.
He added: “We’ve got to do something on a bit of paper.
“We’re going to put some notices up all around the place so that people can read it. Or their relatives can read it, even if it’s online.
Cllr Marland added: “I’m going to contact the surgeries to make them aware and say, ‘Maybe we can have a poster up there, but also you can signpost people if they make comments or they’re isolated.”
ANYONE interested in putting themselves forward to take part, or who knows a relative who would benefit, you can contact Cllr Alicia Marland by calling 07766 107437, Chris Mills on 07752 739968 or Rob Knotts on 07488 262858.
Alternatively, you can ask a family member or friend to email inclusivesaddleworth@gmail.com.
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