Peaks & Plains Housing Trust has just started a digital inclusion programme for its tenants with help from Sigma Consulting Solutions. The programme, which is being run free of charge by Sigma, is in response to Race Online 2012’s initiative ‘to make the UK the first nation in the world where everyone can use the web’.
Simon Penaluna, assistant director of ICT, Peaks & Plains Housing Trust, said, “We want to encourage our older customers to use the internet, and have installed PCs with broadband at our sheltered schemes. Sigma has helped us to demonstrate the benefits that older people can gain by getting online, such as keeping in contact with relatives via email or Skype, accessing gardening tips or ordering shopping for delivery. We hope that the training will have a lasting benefit for our residents.”
Hilary Stephenson, managing director, Sigma Consulting Solutions, said, “We like to think we’re a charitable bunch, helping where we can and reaching non-corporate audiences who need support, and diverting our attentions occasionally from our digital desktops to focus on real people. Race Online 2012 seemed like the perfect storm of technology, user engagement and social inclusion.”
