There’s a whole world online to explore
Food quality control worker Heather Davidson barely knew how to start a computer a few years ago but now she’s making her own Christmas cards online, to the surprise and delight of her family.
Now Usdaw member Heather wants to pass on her enthusiasm for all things digital so she has signed up to be a Digital Champion, one of the ever expanding network of people who help their workmates, family and friends get online.
Race Online 2012, which is running the Digital Champions initiative with the support of unionlearn and others, hopes it will reach the 8.7 million people who have never used the internet up to now.
Heather has spent the past 27 years working at Cavaghan and Gray in Carlisle, which makes ready meals for companies like Marks and Spencer. When she changed her job five years ago, she realised she would need to improve her IT skills from basic email. The new job involved lots of inputting figures and using databases and I didn’t want to be forever asking people for help,” she says.
Heather took a basic IT course at the onsite learning centre, supported through the Union Learning Fund, the employer and Usdaw’s team of ULRs and was “absolutely hooked” by the end of it, she says.
She’s now completed numeracy and literacy Levels 1 and 2, applied for the next IT level and reports that her new found skills have helped her at work and everywhere else in her in her life.
“I was given a new laptop for my birthday and I’m now doing digital scrapbooking and made my own Christmas online with a picture of my new grandson: my family were flabbergasted,” she reveals. Now I try and help people: I tell them that if I can learn IT after 27 years at work, so can they. People are missing out by not being online: you can do anything. I’m definitely not frightened to do anything online anymore. Now I just want to encourage more people to do it too.”
Heather was recruited into learning about computers by the Branch Secretary Carol Gill, who helps run the learning centre and is a ULR herself.
Like Heather, Carol had little experience of computers when she first came into learning.”When I took my first class I was the star pupil because I knew how to turn it on!” she recalls.
" it’s surprising how many people say they are too old to learn – then when people come along they have really enjoyed it. I talked one woman into doing the computer course, and has now taken literacy and numeracy and is moving on to higher courses.”
So what’s Carol’s secret for encouraging people into the learning centre?
“We make it as much fun as possible. We have a cup of tea and a laugh. We’ve just had pension changes and people have been able to complete them online because of doing the course. People are less frightened.”
