CITY residents are getting on board a scheme to drive forward their computer skills.
Nexus Housing arranged for the Computer Bus to visit Dickinson Court, a supported housing scheme, last Tuesday (February 18) to give residents a lesson on getting online.
The bus, run by Worcestershire County Council, acts as a mobile classroom with full internet connection and seating for up to eight students.
Led by a qualified teacher, courses are tailored to suit the needs of individual students and are available to first-time users as well as those wanting to improve their existing IT skills.
The first session received positive feedback from the students, who were each given time for one-on-one training and put into a prize draw with the chance of winning a laptop.
Tracey Woodhouse, one of the residents who attended, said: “I found the Computer Bus visit really useful. After giving a brief introduction, the teacher made time to talk to each of us and identify what it was we needed help with.
“I help to produce work for a writer’s group, but I wasn’t sure how to change fonts and colours in Word. I now know how to do all of this and feel a lot more confident about using the computer.”
Rose Lewis, senior housing officer at Nexus Housing, added: “With the upcoming changes to benefits, it will be more important than ever that our customers are able to get online.
“The Computer Bus catered to the needs of everyone, even giving residents the option of working on iPads if they struggled with ordinary computers.
“We were really pleased to see how helpful our residents found the IT session and we’re now looking into ways we can use the Computer Bus to benefit more of our customers.”
