Part 11 of ?the Communities 2.0 Summer of Success.? Every day, we are celebrating the ways C2.0 overcomes the barriers of digital exclusion and makes a difference to individuals, organisations and communities.? Today, we focus how we inspired Wales and West Housing to install Wi-Fi in a retirement housing scheme.
Wales and West Housing (WWH)?became involved in the Communities 2.0 Connect Merthyr Tydfil project because they wanted to see their residents benefit from broadband access at home. ?WWH wanted to reduce residents? social isolation by encouraging keeping in touch family and friends via text messaging, Facebook, emails and Skype.
Consequently, WWH installed Wi-Fi access in their Ty Pontrhun retirement scheme.? The total cost of this pilot was ?10,000.? The cost to residents is 63p per week after a free introductory period.? WWH have worked with Computer Recyclers Limited to provide low cost access to recycled laptops.? Some family members have given their relatives their old equipment when they trade up.
To encourage use of the Wi-Fi access, the Communities 2.0 Connect Merthyr project runs support sessions for the residents twice a week.? A recent check revealed that a third of the scheme residents use Wi-Fi at any time.? This compares to the start of the project, when only two residents had computers!
Jen, who uses a notebook, said that she and her granddaughter in Australia were crying for a few minutes when they Skyped each other for the first time recently. She can now not only keep in contact with her but see her and her family as they grow up.
Pauline, who is using his old iPad, said her grandson visited and couldn?t believe the download speed available as it was three times faster than his at home. He will downloading his movies and games from the scheme in future!
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