Silver Surfers Day

As part of Adult Learners Week, UEL, Thurrock CVS and Thurrock Library Services are joining forces to offer a free Internet taster session aimed at the older generation. Taking place at the Thurrock Learning Shop on Friday 21st May between 10am and 1pm the session is ideal for those with limited or no experience of computers. There will be simple handouts to take home on web terminology, email and phone, Internet security, social networking, shopping and banking online. Better still, there will be information about the "Wiser for IT" computer courses at local libraries and how to make more use of library facilities to connect to the Internet.

Chances are that if you are reading this on the Learning Shop Blog then the taster session is probably not for you - this is an opportunity for those, like my parents, who went to school in the era when computers were kept behind locked doors in places like Bletchley Park. It will give practical information about how to get online, how to stay safe online and some of the ways of keeping in contact with friends and family.

Since my parents did their first taster-session a few years ago, they've come a long way. My mum no longer writes emails in the form of telexes (stop), my dad knows the most competitively-priced fare on a cross-Channel ferry for the next 6-months (and tells me on an almost daily basis) and they can keep up-to-date with how the potatoes are doing. For more practical uses they've been able to research information about recovering from a heart-attack, can keep up-to-date with their grand-children's busy lives and best of all can often be heard laughing like drains at some joke that a friend has sent them.

If you know somebody who could benefit from this session or if you would like some more information please contact Karen Glazzard on 01375 389889.