Agewell Computer Club at The Lawns.

Food-focussed First Click for beginners.

Learn how to explore your passion for food and cooking online.

Our next series of First Click classes …

• Began on Monday 6 February 2012 (2 to 3.30 pm).
• Continues with weekly sessions (2 to 3.30 pm).
• Ends on Monday 26 March 2012.
• Happens at our computer centre at 52 The Lawns, Matthias Road, N16 8QB.

You will learn basic computer skills, then move on to using the World Wide Web and email. After that we will help you explore food online – recipes, cookery techniques, ingredients, healthy eating, nutrition – using the excellent BBC website.

Eligibility.

Hackney residents in the pre-retirement age range 50 to 65. First Click is for beginners; absolute beginners have priority.

How to sign up, or get more information.

Contact us on 020 7254 2183 or 020 7272 5512 (or, if you want to refer sombody, send an email to acc@lawns.org.uk ).

This five-week course has been cancelled because too few people signed up to justify it. We will replace it with a series of five workshops on themes requested by our service users. The workshops will all take place on Monday afternoon from 3:30 to 5 pm, as follows …

1. 6 February – More Posterous.
   This workshop is mainly for people who already have Posterous accounts, and need help understanding what they can do next.
2. 13 February – Make your own online Valentine card with Picnik.
   An update of our successful Valentine workshop last year.
   (Read more about the Valentine workshop).
3. 20 February – Not decided yet, but we will know soon.
   We would like to tie this workshop to the Hackney Life project – so it will be about either
   • Making very simple videos with a mobile phone, stills camera.
   • Or uploading video to YouTube.
   • Or both.

    

4. 27 February – How to put your own photographs, links, comments and questions on our Agewell Social Network website.
   This workshop could be sub-titled ‘Elementary Blogging for Beginners’.
5. 5 March – Radio Agewell.
   We will stream this workshop straight out to the Internet on Radio Agewell, so that anyone at home with a computer can listen in. Come and find out how easy it is to do.

As usual, please reserve your place on these workshops by sending an email to acc@lawns.org.uk  .

A course for Agewell beginners: Email Essentials with Henry.

Agewell super-volunteer Henry has been persuaded to lead a five-week email course at The Lawns.

When, exactly.

• Five Tuesday afternoons, 2.30 to 5 pm.
• Started: Tuesday 31 January 2012.
• Ends: Tuesday 28 February 2012.
• Enrolment finished: Tuesday 24 January –
  the course is now full.

Course Content.

Music Online – a short course at Hackney Silver Surfers.

The Hackney Learning Trust is funding two more short courses about Music Online. They are free to Hackney residents aged 50 or better. There will be five sessions in each course. The two courses have identical content. The tutor is Julie Usher.

Course content.

• Finding and listening to music on the internet.
• Learn about iTunes, iPods, online music stores, YouTube.
• Internet radio.
• Downloading and purchasing music from the internet.
• Internet music forums.
• Staying safe and copyright.

Music Online A (January – February).

• This course has been postponed.

More information.

If you cannot attend for enrolment on the days and times arranged, or if you need further information – please contact Rick by email to courses@lawns.org.uk or phone 020 7254 2183.

About City & Guilds StartIT.

Hackney Silver Surfers City & Guilds courses have been very popular for many years. They are free to learners, funded by the Hackney Learning Trust.

The City & Guilds ‘StartIT’ certificate is a basic qualification for beginners – designed and taught specifically for older people with little or no previous experience of computers or the Internet. It is one of the most successful and popular activities Hackney Silver Surfers have offered at The Lawns. The next StartIT could be the best ever – with more time and resources dedicated to Hackney Silver Surfer learners.

The next StartIT course.

• Topics: computer basics, file management, World-Wide Web, email, word-processing.
• Sixty hours, spread over ten weeks – every Wednesday and Thursday (10 am to 1 pm).
• Started: Wednesday 25 January 2012.
• Ends: Thursday 29 March 2012.
• Commitment: you should be able to attend all 20 sessions.
• Eligibility: all Hackney residents aged 50 or better.

StartIT assessment and enrolment.

This course has been enrolled, and is now full.

Short courses at The Lawns, Nov-Dec 2011.

• Working with digital pictures and photographs (Wednesday morning classes).
  This course has finished.
• Working with digital pictures and photographs (Thursday morning classes).
  This course has has finished.

The tutor was Julie Usher.

For more information, please visit the Hackney Silver Surfers web post ‘Short courses’.

A message from ACT Training Services …

Food-focussed First Click for beginners.

Learn how to explore your passion for food and cooking online.

Our next series of First Click classes …

• Began on Tuesday 11 October 2011.
• Will continue with weekly sessions (1.15 to 2.45 pm).
• End on Tuesday 15 November 2011.
• Happen at our computer centre at 52 The Lawns, Matthias Road, N16 8QB.

You will learn basic computer skills, then move on to using the World Wide Web and email. After that we will help you explore food online – recipes, cookery techniques, ingredients, healthy eating, nutrition – using the excellent BBC website.

Eligibility.

Hackney residents in the pre-retirement age range 50 to 65. First Click is for beginners; absolute beginners have priority.

Computer and Internet workshops for beginners.

The Hackney Learning Trust is funding three series of workshops for beginners in July and August 2011. There will be four sessions in each series. Beginners will learn basic computer skills and essential Internet skills such as using email and browsing the World Wide Web.

The workshops are part of the Hackney Silver Surfers program – so learners may be any age 50 or above and may be residents of neighbouring boroughs as well as Hackney.

For more information please read the ‘Workshops’ section of the Hackney Silver Surfers website – hss.lawns.org.uk/#workshops .

iMen50+ at Spurs FC.

The Tottenham Hotspur Foundation has arranged a seven-week course ‘Introduction to the Internet’ for men who are aged 50 or over.

• Start date: Friday 17 June 2011 (10 am to 12).
• Venue: Spurs Learning Zone, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, N17 0AP.
• To sign up: phone 020 8365 5138.

They say that …

The course will teach you to:

• Set up an email account.
• Search a specific topic of interest.
• Browse the best summer holiday deals.
• Find trustworthy and reliable health information.
• Research your family tree.
• Find old school or army friends.
• Work with digital photos and send them onto your family and friends.

Residents of Haringey have priority – but all other older men are eligible, and the course is far from full.

City & Guilds Information and Communication Technologies, Level 1.

This free Level 1 course is for senior citizens (aged 50 or over) who are relatively new to computers, but who are not absolute beginners. It’s not just a unique course – we think it is the best course of its kind available to anyone in this area. It is funded by the Hackney Learning Trust, and led by Hackney supertutor George Llewellyn. The venue will be our main centre: 52 The Lawns, N16 8QB.

Dates and times.

• Twenty lesssons, ten weeks, 9 hours each week.
• Every Thursday and Friday (10 am to 2.30 pm).
• Started: Thursday 9 June 2011.
• Ended: Friday 12 August 2011.

For more information, please visit the Hackney Silver Surfers Courses page, or contact Sadia Hussain by email (sadiahussain@ageconcernhackney.org.uk) or phone (020 7254 2183).

What is it?

Spring Online Week is an alternative name for Silver Surfers’ Week, which we have actively supported for eight years. It’s an annual national celebration of older people learning about and participating in the digital world of the 21st century. There have been other national events with similar aims, but as far as we are concerned this is the only one that matters – because it is the only one that has ever brought new people to our centre. So we know it is going to be worth a bit of extra effort.

Spring Online Week / Silver Surfers’ Week coincides with Adult Learners’ Week – another national event which has always got a result for us because it has been supported so well by the Hackney Learning Trust.

Links and dates.

• Spring Online Week / Silver Surfers’ Week – 16 to 20 May 2011.
• Adult Learners’ Week – 14 to 20 May 2011.

Come to our First Click Internet tasters, Tuesday 17 May.

Our Agewell tasters are informative introductions to the Internet for local mid-lifers (people in the pre-retirement age range 50 – 65), especially absolute beginners. They are social events, not classes – so we won’t expect you to do anything startling — but by the end of the session, you will have a much better idea of what the Internet is, and what you can do with it. Then you can make up your own mind.

But we can prove to you that it is a lot easier than you ever imagined. For example – we can show you how to …

• use email to send instant messages to your friends and family anywhere;
• use Skype to talk to them and see them live;
• search the World Wide Web for information on anything and everything (for example – practical information about employment, benefits, housing, local issues, campaigns, hobbies, news, weather, travel, holidays);
• use ‘social media’ sites like Facebook safely (it’s the best way to keep in touch with your grandchildren);
• share your digital photographs online;
• download music legally;
• get yourself online at home without spending absurd amounts of money;

If you are convinced, we will offer you a place on our next free First Click Internet course, using excellent videos and information packs from the BBC, as well as our own materials tried and tested for local people.

Cake and biscuits will be provided by Stoke Newington School from 1 to 3 pm (see our post ‘Visit from Stoke Newington School’).

Where and when.

Two sessions at our main centre in Hackney: 52 The Lawns, Matthias Road, N16 8QB – it’s on the 236 bus route (there is more location info on our ‘Contact us’ page).

1. 1.15 to 2.45 pm.
2. 3 to 4.30 pm.

How to book your taster place.

You don’t have to book a place – but it would be better for everybody if you do. Here’s how to do it by phone (the best way) …

• Decide which of the two tasters would be better for you (1.15 pm or 3 pm start).
• Phone 020 7272 5512.
• Anybody who answers that number will be able to help you.
• If you get an answering machine instead, leave your name and phone number (please say them slowly to make sure we can get back to you).
• If you are enquiring for somebody else, you could also send an email to springonline@lawns.org.uk .

If we have people wanting to book more places than we have available, we will arrange more tasters. It’s happened before.

Two frequently-asked questions.

1. Are your Spring Online events only for Hackney residents aged 50 to 65?
   The Agewell Computer Club is funded by the local Primary Care Trust specifically to provide services for Hackney mid-lifers (50 to 65) – but that doesn’t mean we turn other people away! Don’t worry if you don’t fit that description – contact us anyway if you are 50 or over.
2. What else are you doing that week?
   There will be other Agewell events, but we can’t announce them before they are finalised. Our sister project, Hackney Silver Surfers, will be organising at least one Silver Surfers’ Week event for all older people within travelling distance.

Getting online one click at a time.

BBC First Click is a major BBC campaign to encourage people who do not yet use the Internet to understand and enjoy its benefits. Using computers to get on the Internet is easier than you think. Why not take your first click with the BBC?

If you are a Hackney resident aged 50 to 65, your nearest free First Click course provider is us, the Agewell Computer Club – specialists in explaining all things digital to people in the mid-life pre-retirement range. We provide free computer training and free Internet access – and we have friendly weekly sessions for continued learning or support.

If you join our First Click course, we can help you learn all the skills you need to feel confident about using the Internet – to improve your employment prospects, become more involved in the community, have more frequent contact with your friends and family, learn about online shopping, pay bills, access information about health, travel, hobbies, council services and anything else you are interested in! All the other learners will be older people just like yourself – and the tutors too.

The Agewell Computer Club is recruiting now for our next First Click course in May 2011 – one session each week for six weeks.

• The first session was on Tuesday 24 May 2011.
• The final session will be on Tuesday 28 June 2011.
• Session times will be 1.15 to 2.45 pm.
• The venue will be our computer centre at 52 The Lawns, Matthias Road, N16 8QB.
• Participants who are absolute beginners will be invited to an optional pre-course taster on Tuesday 17 May – our Spring Online event.

If you are a beginner yourself, or know somebody else who would like to come to this series of Tuesday afternoon classes – please keep yourself in the loop by leaving a message at The Lawns (phone: 020 7254 2183) or send an email to acc@lawns.org.uk .

City & Guilds StartIT ‘World Wide Web and Email’.

The City & Guilds ‘StartIT’ certificate is a basic qualification for beginners — designed and taught specifically for older people with little or no previous experience of computers or the Internet. It is one of the most successful and popular activities we have offered at The Lawns. It is funded by the Hackney Learning Trust, and led by Hackney supertutor George Llewellyn. The venue will be our main centre: 52 The Lawns, N16 8QB.

Dates and times.

• Seven weeks, every Monday and Wednesday (10 am to 1.30 pm).
• Started: Monday 13 June 2011.
• Ended: Wednesday 27 July 2011.

For more information – especially about how to enrol – please visit the Hackney Silver Surfers Courses page.

Our beginners’ session on Tuesday 15 March 2011 will be a special introductory taster for some of the people who have signed up for our next First Click course beginning 22 March 2011.

The taster will be specifically and exclusively for people who are genuinely absolute beginners — never used a computer before, never touched a mouse, never seen the World Wide Web — except on TV.

If you are interested in the First Click course, you must first sign up for it. Then, if you are a real beginner, we will invite you to the pre-course taster.

Getting online one click at a time.

First Click is a major BBC campaign to encourage people who do not yet use the Internet to understand and enjoy its benefits. Using computers to get on the Internet is easier than you think. Why not take your first click with the BBC?

If you are a Hackney resident aged 50 to 65, your nearest free First Click course provider is us, the Agewell Computer Club – specialists in explaining all things digital to people in the mid-life pre-retirement range. We provide free computer training and free Internet access – and we have friendly weekly sessions for continued learning or support.

If you join our First Click course, we can help you learn all the skills you need to feel confident about using the Internet – to improve your employment prospects, become more involved in the community, have more frequent contact with your friends and family, learn about online shopping, pay bills, access information about health, travel, hobbies, council services and anything else you are interested in! All the other learners will be older people just like yourself – and the tutors too.

The Agewell Computer Club is recruiting now for our next First Click course in March 2011 – one session each week for six weeks (plus a two-week break for Easter).

• The first session will be on Tuesday 22 March 2011.
• The final session will be on Tuesday 10 May 2011.
• Session times will be 1.15 to 2.45 pm.
• The venue will be our computer centre at 52 The Lawns, Matthias Road, N16 8QB.
• Participants who are genuine absolute beginners will be invited to an optional pre-course taster on Tuesday 15 March 2011 (1.15 to 2.45 pm).

If you are a beginner yourself, or know somebody else who would like to come to this series of Tuesday afternoon classes – please keep yourself in the loop by leaving a message at The Lawns (phone: 020 7254 2183) or send an email to acc@lawns.org.uk .