Frank lives in retirement housing in North Yorkshire. He contacted Citizens Online as he was having problems with his computer. When our volunteer digital champion Richard, visited Frank, he realised that Frank’s broadband service was very slow and unstable; also that despite paying for a connection, Frank also had no telephone line.
Frank’s hearing difficulties also meant he struggled with calls to his broadband provider. This had caused his significant stress and anxiety, as he was convinced that he had caused the problem when this was clearly not the case. This problem had been ongoing for many months before Citizens Online became involved.
Our digital champion Richard, with Frank’s permission went above and beyond the usual digital champion support and worked with Frank’s service provider to arrange for engineer visits to fix the problem, which restored Frank’s telephone and internet access.
Unfortunately, this was not the only challenge Frank encountered, his desktop computer stopped working around the same time the network problems were solved. Fortunately, Richard was able to rescue his data from the hard drive. We provided Frank with a replacement Laptop obtained from the RebootNY Scheme. Frank had difficulty with the trackpad but has since received an external keyboard and mouse. It is now an excellent system suitable for his needs.
Frank is exceptionally grateful for the assistance, stating that he found the support invaluable. He would still be off-line without the support of Citizens Online volunteer digital Champion, Richard’s support.
Do you (or someone you know) need help to get started using technology or want to build your confidence to do more online?
If so, please call 0808 196 5883 and leave a message. One of our team of trained digital champions will call you back and offer friendly, patient support over the phone. You can find more information on our website or by calling us.
Could you support others in learning to get online and improve their digital skills?
You don’t have to be a technical whizz to be a Digital Champion. You do need to be patient, understanding and a great communicator. Digital Champions volunteer their time to help others to improve their digital skills and benefit from using the internet safely. Read more here
