Free Tea and Tech to help tackle digital exclusion in Tameside

Friends of Waterloo Park will be hosting several classes for Tameside residents to learn basic digital skills.

The group based out of Waterloo Park Centre is run by volunteers, who put on a variety of events and activities.

The classes follow on from the groups popular Tea and Toast social sessions.

Lee Staniforth, secretary of Friends of Waterloo Park, has worked in IT for the past 30 years: “I often get asked oh I’ve got a problem in my phone or some problem with my laptop and I try and help as best as I can.

“There was an opportunity I saw for some funding available for groups to set up to help people who were feeling digitally excluded, so I thought maybe that’s an idea to set up something a bit more formal.

“So, I applied for the funding, and I was very pleased to receive the funds.”

The funding for the sessions has been awarded by Tameside Council and Greater Manchester Combined Authority through the “Strengthening Communities Digital Inclusion” fund.

The fund is to help tackle the digital exclusion barriers that many people in Tameside still face.

Credit: Friends of Waterloo Park

“There’s a lot more going online, and some people don’t feel very confident. They’re feeling excluded, banks are closing for instance, access to any kind of government service, you can only really do that now online.

“It’s really combating against digital exclusion, and to try and get people a bit more confident, have a bit of fun as well, and also take something away from the classes.”

It helps create opportunities for residents to gain a ‘minimum digital standard of living’ through digital hubs and digital skills training as well as related activities.

The free sessions at Waterloo Park Centre will cover basic emails, browsing the internet, being safe online, printing photographs and buying and selling online.

“I will be running hour long sessions for people to start playing around with some technology in a safer environment somewhere they can trust as well.

“There’s going to be some general sessions as well where people just come and if they have got a problem, they can bring their device, and we will answer the questions.”

The sessions are due to start in May.

Friends of Waterloo Park also host a under 5’s toddler group, a garden group as well as the tea and toast afternoons.

They also host seasonal events for Halloween, with their next event for Easter coming up next week.

If you are interested in the sessions then you can contact Friends of Waterloo Park on their email friendsofwaterloopark@outlook.com or you can contact Lee directly on 07713680459 and leave a message for him to reply.