Elderly get a taste of the net

Trainers will help novices go online for the first time

Silver surfers are being targeted in a month-long campaign to get older people using the internet.

Age Concern is offering free net taster sessions in a bid to help older people overcome any worries they have about using web browsers and e-mail.

Net-savvy older folks will be on hand during the sessions to help novices and offer advice.

The sessions will be available at 75 locations around the UK.

Lost opportunity

Net use statistics show that the web is very much a young person's plaything.

The figures reveal that although 62% of British people have tried the internet, only 15% of Britons aged 65 or over have been online.

"While older people potentially stand to benefit most from the internet, they are less likely than younger age groups to get online," said Gordon Lishman, Director General, Age Concern.

The charity said older people were reluctant to get to grips with the internet because of the potential cost, their unfamiliarity with computers and sometimes because of hand and vision difficulties.

Age is no barrier to net use

Age Concern is running a month-long campaign to teach older people about the net and to get them surfing the net and sending e-mail.

The Silver Surfers Festival aims to give older people hands-on training and show them how they can use the web to research family history, find out about local events and communicate with friends.

"Participation in the internet revolution is an important factor in the full social inclusion of older people," said Mr Lishman, "particularly as more public services go online."

Older people will be able to get their free first taste of the net at 75 locations across the UK.

One man who has already become a web convert is 62-year-old Terry Pearson, a wheelchair-user who is paralysed from the neck down. He usually relies on carers for support for shopping and for getting out and about.

Since finding out about the net via Age Concern's Computer Explorer bus in Staffordshire, Mr Pearson has bought his own PC and goes online from home.

"My two sons are surprised that I have taken to computers so easily," he said.

"I was apprehensive before I tried, but using a computer to look up websites and contact friends is easier than you think," he added.

Age Concern is staging the campaign with the help of UK Online, Cable and Wireless and Microsoft.