How Digital Champions deliver personalised support in Brighton

By guest blogger, Research and Evaluation Officer, Ell Martin

Digital support can be essential to get people online, but it has to be the right kind of support. A single approach to digital support does not work when everyone learns differently.

Susan from Brighton is 65 years old. She has recently lost her job and is looking for work, but is currently living on very low income. She has been keen to learn to use digital devices for some time and has tried to get to grips with them and get support several times. Unfortunately, these were not useful for her:  

“I went on a computer course, I bought myself a tablet in 2017 and I just could not… I passed the course and I got the certificate, and when I put it in use, I just couldn’t, it was just a total blank there, and I bought this tablet, and I put it in my drawer, I didn’t have internet and it’s stayed there.” 

Since becoming unemployed, Susan found that she had to get online. Applying for jobs and benefits all had to be done online:  

“I didn’t live in that world of technology and didn’t have to. It’s when I became unemployed, it was like everything is online! Applying for jobs, contacting Universal Credit, everything is online.”  

Getting the right support

Recently Susan started getting one-to-one support from one of AbilityNet's volunteer Digital Champions, Judy. Initially, Susan did not think this would help, and felt that she couldn’t learn:  

“I didn’t think that when Judy arrived at my front door, and we had started this journey, that I would become this competent... come this far. I really, I mean to me it’s a miracle. I’m like a small child with sweets. It’s fantastic, absolutely fantastic!”

A person needs the right device, an internet connection, digital skills and motivation to get online safely and confidently. However, the right support is key to both being motivated and developing the necessary skills. Based on her experiences, Susan reflects on how digitally excluded people need to have access to the right support, and a digital device that suits them: 

“They just have to… maybe it’s the equipment you’re trying to learn on, or the person trying to show you, or maybe, you don’t do well in a big class, and you just need someone to sit very quietly with you, and, you might get it, and if you do, it will do so much for you, you just have to try, you know.”  

Judy’s support has made a huge difference to Susan’s digital skills and confidence: 

“If there was anybody who had been on a computer course before, of my age group, and thought, I still can’t cope, I can’t operate this technology… talk to me and I will tell you, what I can do now is amazing, amazing.”  

AbilityNet’s support

Our project Digital Brighton & Hove has also been able to get Susan a new tablet and internet connection. Because of her limited income, these have made a big difference to her.

Our work with learners is person-centred, based on the interests, skills and abilities of each person we help.

Contact AbilityNet if you are disabled or a senior citizen and need support with your digital devices - call our helpline on 0300 180 0028 or request help from an AbilityNet volunteer.

Susan's story part two: Healthcare and technology

Above, we highlighted how important getting the right support for Susan was, and this is especially true for managing her health. She has recently become unemployed due to health issues. She has problems with her eyesight and her mobility and needs a walker to get around.

This means some walking routes are now inaccessible to her. With help from a Citizens Online (now incorporated into AbilityNet) volunteer Digital Champion, she has learned to use Google Maps to check the accessibility of the route before she goes out:

“I can actually look on Google Maps, so I can see where somewhere to go, I can get the route, but also, because of my mobility, I walk with a stroller, I can actually physically see the steps, the routes, the streets where I would walk. It’s fantastic. And I can find my way around easily. So, this is absolutely marvellous. How people cope without it, I don’t know!" says Susan.

Managing health in the future

Susan is concerned about managing household tasks in the future if her health deteriorates. She wants to learn to order her prescriptions online and to do online shopping. But she is also aware of potential digital scams and other risks, which are making her cautious: 

“I’ve watched that many programmes about online scams, so I’ve got over cautious. And I’m still learning, so I don’t want to push the wrong button and do the wrong thing, you know? But I’m able to get onto the sites to have a look.” 

Susan is interested, but similarly concerned about doing online banking:  

“I’d like to learn how to do banking online. I’m not confident about that. I’m very worried about putting my details in and then, and not doing the right thing, and giving away the wrong information and becoming unsecure. So, I don’t feel confident about that at all. I think that I’d have to really, really make sure that I know what I’m doing before I go that route, because I feel that I’m quite vulnerable. I haven’t got a lot of money but I think, I don’t what to lose the little bit by, you know, going the wrong route there.”

Free webinar: How to steer clear of seasonal scams - with actress Linda Robson

DBS-checked digital champions

Susan's concerns stem both from limited digital skills, and an experience of being scammed by someone she trusted. All volunteers and staff working at Citizens Online (now part of AbilityNet) have been trained and completed a DBS check. This includes Susan’s digital champion, Judy.

This gives Susan confidence, as well as not having to share something as personal as her financial issues with friends: 

“I would feel more comfortable doing that with someone like Judy, to walk you through it. Because then you’ve got somebody you can trust and you know… it is quite difficult to ask people as well, even if you’ve got an acquaintance or a friend, with something very personal like that, isn’t it?” says Susan. 

Susan talks about how she has learned to use online searching to find information about health issues and practical tasks, like clipping her cats’ claws. 

“I would ask Google, and I would see what they would have to say for me, what they told me to do. I have the knowledge now, that’s what I would do.”

“But I’m trying to get all that knowledge, so I can be independent and do it. Because it’s not going to be a granddaughter or a grandson or a friend, who nips around and goes ‘oh yes, this is how you do that’, you know, it’s just something I need to learn, a bit like putting a fuse in a plug, or rewiring a plug, you know, you need to know these things. When you live alone, normally if you have a family or husband, or the children help, but if there’s not that there…” 

Photos of 'Susan' are for illustrative purposes only.

Further resources

• Free Digital Skills training for older and disabled people via AbilityNet
• Book digital inclusion training for your teams
• Support AbilityNet with fundraising at your organisation
• Find out about practical tips to shield yourself from scams
• Sign up to our newsletter for updates on assistive technology, accessibility and more