Older people attending a Spring Online event in Westminster on Friday received some unexpected support and encouragement – from Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith.

He joined the internet session together with Samantha Mauger, CEO of Age UK London and Emma Solomon, Managing Director of Digital Unite, at Europe House, home of the European Commission in the UK.

The Commission worked with the Department of Work and Pensions and Age UK London to organise the event for older people in London who want to get to grips with computers and other digital technology. The session covered mobile phone texting, uploading photos from a digital camera, learning to use a Kindle, iPad or Wii – all the way through to keeping in touch with friends and family with Facebook.

The event was one of nearly 2,000 Spring Online sessions which have been held throughout the UK this week. Organised by Digital Unite, Spring Online is one of the biggest digital inclusion campaigns of the year to give older people and less confident users a taste of computers and the internet. It has helped more than 150,000 people to get more out of life online over the last 11 years.

Iain Duncan Smith is a leading supporter of Spring Online. Last year, he attended an event in his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency and presented the Campaign’s Best Event Awards hostel by Digital Unite. He said: “I know from my own involvement with Spring Online last year how effectively it promotes older people’s digital inclusion.”

Digital Unite’s Managing Director, Emma Solomon, says: “Nearly seven million over-55s in the UK have never used the internet. They’re missing out on a huge range of benefits – from saving money to keeping in touch with friends and family. Access to computers and the internet can enhance people’s health and wellbeing – and open up whole new worlds.”

Samantha Mauger, CEO of Age UK London says: “Age UK London is thrilled to be taking part in the Spring Online digital inclusion campaign. There are many older Londoners who have never been on the internet and many more who struggle to do all the things they would like to do online, such as finding the best deals when shopping for appliances, holidays and insurance. Amongst other things, the internet opens up money saving opportunities and in the long term has the potential for reducing pensioner poverty, which is fantastic.”

This year there’s a fantastic prize draw for anyone who takes part in a Spring Online event – whether you’re running a taster session or having a go yourself as a participant.

Complete the entry form here to be eligible for the prize and £200 in high street vouchers could be yours! It’s free to enter for anyone who took part in a Spring Online or Silver Surfers’ Day event, whether as a participant, organiser or helper. Entries close on 25 May 2012.

84 year old Violet Haden showed her computer know-how at Hanover Housing Association’s Spring Online event at Patching Lodge today. Violet has been learning to use the internet and was thrilled to be able to trace her family tree back to 1740!

She was joined at the event by former Age UK National Internet Champion Margaret Goodwin who showed residents at the extra care retirement scheme all the many benefits of getting online. Margaret was on the road today, also giving computer and internet master classes to Hanover’s retirement housing residents in Crawley.

She says: “This is a fantastic initiative which should prove to be popular with residents. So whether they wish to keep in touch with family or fancy trying their hand at internet shopping, good internet access can have benefits for everyone.”

Halton Housing Trust is running five sessions for anyone who is not sure how to use the internet or wants help with their phones, cameras or computers.

The ‘Just One Quick Click’ sessions are planned during Spring Online with Silver Surfers’ Week and are aimed at people of all ages.

The Trust owns and manages 6,150 homes in the Cheshire towns of Widnes and Runcorn. Its Customer Involvement Officer Michelle Phillips says: “We went into schools and asked children if they knew anyone who didn’t use the internet. They didn’t just say their grandparents – many of them told us their parents didn’t know how to use the internet so we thought it would be a good idea to make this week an intergenerational event.”

Each session will have a Diamond Jubilee theme with bunting and afternoon teas for those taking part.

Year 6 pupils from St Gerard’s RC Primary School, Widnes, and Victoria Road Primary, Runcorn, took part in a competition to design a logo and strapline for the sessions.

They came up with a mascot called Super Mouse, the event name ‘Just One Quick Click’ and a name for the volunteers during the sessions ‘The Little Diamond Helpers’.

Michelle Phillips adds: “Many of these young people have lived and breathed this kind of technology for most of their lives. “They are going to be able to help the grown-ups with all kinds of things from changing the ringtone on their phones to how to download pictures from their emails.”

The sessions run every day this week – for more information contact Michelle Phillips on 0151 510 5184 or email michelle.phillips@haltonhousing.org

As more and more Government services are provided online, Wigan and Leigh Housing realised it was vital to help tenants to access them.

So the company is organising more than 40 free computer taster events throughout the borough as part of this year’s Spring Online with Silver Surfers’ Day campaign. They’ll be held at all sorts of places from community centres to fire stations – and the company is even taking a fully equipped bus out on the road to visit local estates.

The sessions will include the basics of using a computer, setting up email, how to save money on comparison websites and how to browse, search and shop online. And in addition to the free training there is the chance for everyone who attends a Spring Online event to enter a prize draw to win £200 in High Street Vouchers.

Wigan and Leigh Housing manages the borough’s social housing and sheltered housing schemes, a total of 23,000 properties. They know how important it is for tenants to be able to access online services – from accessing advice and information to applying for benefits.

Tenant Board Member at Wigan and Leigh Housing, Marjorie Marsden said, “For people who have never used a computer getting online can be a scary prospect. They worry that they won’t be able to understand how to work it or even that they might break it! We want our tenants to know that we’re here to help and the sessions we have organised will be fun and interesting. We want everyone to enjoy themselves and to show tenants how computers can be of real benefit to them.”

Marjorie continues, “As more and more Government services will be provided online, including accessing benefits, it’s important for us to help our tenants to access these services. Holding free online training and looking at opportunities to support communities to access to the internet are amongst the things we are doing to get as many of our tenants as possible benefitting from being online.”

For full details of Wigan and Leigh Housing’s Spring Online events visit www.walh.co.uk or call 0800 389 7652.

The world-famous Victoria and Albert Museum in London is opening its doors to internet beginners on Silver Surfers’ Day on April 27 – to offer tuition on internet basics as well as digitally decorated cupcakes!

The museum’s Silver Surfer Day workshops are for complete beginners or anyone who needs a little extra help getting online. They’ll cover how to set up an email account, search the web and look for television and radio programmes online.

There will also be the opportunity to search more than a million objects on the Museum’s website to find out about its best-loved collections, from art deco jewellery to fashion and costume.

Nadia Arbach, who is team leader for digital programmes at the Museum, says: “We’ve had an amazing response from previous learner sessions. Often, people just need a bit of support to give them the confidence to go online and they are thrilled when they see how it can help them pursue their interests and hobbies, One lady hugged me and said we had opened up a whole new world for her.”

And those digitally decorated cupcakes? Apparently that’s a photoshop trick you can use to turn your own photographs into unique designs. If you’d like to learn how to do it, the Museum offers Photoshop courses which are bookable online at http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/

There are two events during the day, at 10.30-12.00 and 14.00-15.30. They’re free – contact the V&A Bookings Office on 020 7942 2211 or book online at http://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson/event/1722/silver-surfers-day-2012-2879/

For anyone thinking of holding a Spring Online event, this video of Beryl – see below – really spells out the benefits of helping older people get online. She says: “I love it!”

Beryl lives at a sheltered housing scheme run by the “Johnnie” Johnson Housing Trust. She talks about how she learnt to use her computer so she could keep in touch with her family and says how much she enjoyed talking to them on Skype when they were in Australia.

Beryl was also thrilled to find an old school friend on Facebook and says they now meet up regularly.

Beryl’s advice to anyone who wants to learn to use a computer? “Go for it – you will not be sorry!”

Richard Wright, Resident Involvement Manager at “Johnnie” Johnson Housing Trust, says: “We believe it’s vital that our residents can enjoy the benefits of being online. So far over 400 residents have taken part in computer training and over 250 now regularly use communal computers. It’s hard to estimate the knock-on effects but there has been a real sea change in our residents’ perception of digital inclusion and they are clearly discovering the value of getting online.”

Many people who have never used a computer say they just don’t see the point. But Nicola Dean of The Starting Point Community Learning Partnership knows how to coax them to try – by showing them how they can explore their favourite interests through the internet.

During Spring Online with Silver Surfers’ Day, Nicola and her team will visit a local sheltered housing scheme run by Stockport Homes to encourage residents to use computers to enjoy their favourite music. “We’ll demonstrate how you can go online to find the song lyrics you like and then print them out. We’ll find the songs on YouTube and then play them on a big screen, using the lyric sheets to have a sing along session. We hope the residents will have a really great time, and realise how much computers can bring to their lives,” says Nicola.

For those who are more interested in cookery and gardening, Nicola and the team are holding sessions at the StartPoint coffee shop in Woodley near Stockport. Not only does the café sell great coffee and food, it also acts as the base for the Learning Partnership, which offers free IT training, community learning and family activities throughout the year.

Gardening and cookery experts will be on hand, and visitors to the café will be able to explore the advice, recipes and information they need online.

But the Partnership’s final Spring Online session of the week must be the tastiest one of all. Friday April 27 is fish day in Woodley when the team take over the local fish and chip shop to offer Fish, Peas and Family Trees! Computer beginners can see how easy it is to explore their family history online, while tucking into delicious fish and chips. How’s that for a taster session!

If you are interested in going along to any of these Spring Online sessions, phone 0161 494 9947 or email: info@startpoint.org.uk

Rural Affairs Minister Richard Benyon is backing this year’s Spring Online campaign, which aims to help older people get online.

He says: “Going online is very important for people living and working in rural areas. In particular, the internet can improve older people’s quality of life – helping them to keep in touch and to access vital services and information. These are among the reasons why the Government is providing £530m to ensure rural areas have excellent broadband facilities. I’m delighted to back this campaign, and wish it great success.”

Spring Online with Silver Surfers Day is one of the biggest campaigns each year to give older people and less confident users a taste of computers and the internet. It’s been going for 11 years and during that time, has helped more than 150,000 people get more out of life online. This year’s campaign takes place from April 23-27.

Seven million older people in the UK have never used the internet. They’re missing out on a huge range of benefits – from saving money to keeping in touch with friends and family. In a survey for Digital Unite, 72% said being online reduced their feeling of isolation, so that’s a vital reason to help them get connected.

Last year, more than 2,500 Spring Online events were held in towns and villages around the UK. People opened their doors at all sorts of places – from living rooms to UK online centres, classrooms, cafes, libraries and even pubs – to hold fun events from Wii parties to online gardening sessions.

There were some great success stories. One grandmother learnt how to email her grandson, a soldier in Afghanistan, and was amazed to get an instant reply. Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, hosted the best event awards and the campaign received an important Nominet Internet Award for Building a Networked Nation.

Emma Solomon, Managing Director of Digital Unite says: “Access to services can be a serious problem for older people in rural areas. Effective use of technology can offer them very real opportunities to enhance their health and well-being. So if you know your way around a computer why not volunteer to show someone else how to do it? Often, all people need is someone to get them started, show them the basics and make it fun. Holding a Spring Online session can really help.”

Martha Lane Fox, UK Digital Champion, said: “There are still a staggering 8.2 million people in the UK who are yet to experience how magic the web really is. Saving money, keeping in touch and reducing feelings of isolation are just a few examples of how the internet can change lives for the better. Fantastic initiatives like Spring Online play a vital role in highlighting these benefits and helping us achieve the ambition of creating a truly networked UK.”

For more information about Spring Online and to register your event visit www.springonline.org or call 0800 228 9272.

The people at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) know that we’re increasingly going online to access their services, whether that’s applying for a driving licence, paying our car tax or booking a driving test. In fact, they say more than half of us are now taxing our vehicles or declaring them ‘off the road’ via their Electronic Vehicle Re-Licensing online service.

That’s all very well for those who know their way around a computer, but what about people who don’t know how to use the internet, or aren’t confident enough to use it for such transactions?

DVLA plans to start tackling the problem with two free Spring Online events at its Swansea Learning and Development Centre. On April 25, they’ll open their doors to older people and those who are less confident about using computers.

The DVLA is working with the City and County of Swansea’s Lifelong Learning Service and Library Service to hold the events, which will include the basics of using a computer, setting up email, how to use Skype and how to browse, search and shop online.

David James, who is an online service manager at DVLA, says: “Our main aim is to make the sessions fun and interesting. We’ll cover the basics, but also have sessions on tracing your family history and even buying a personalised number plate. A lot of people are interested in using a computer to do things like that, but don’t know how to and are a bit scared of trying. We want to break down those barriers.”

David adds: “Our customers are aged from 16 when they apply for their first driving licence, to 70 and older when they have to renew it, with all ages in between. As more and more Government services are provided online, it’s important for us to help our customers to access them. We thought holding a Spring Online event was the ideal way to do that, and hopefully there will be an opportunity to hold more in the future.”

The DVLA’s Spring Online events will be held at the Richard Ley Development Centre at Upper Forrest Way, Swansea, from 10am-12 noon and 1pm-3pm. See full details here and book your place by phoning David on 01792 782461.