Digital drop-in sessions for elderly Lanarkshire residents is a success

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Four local elected members recently visited the tenants at the Lorne Garden retirement complex in Salsburgh to hear about their receiving brand new iPads, thanks to a project developed through North Lanarkshire Council.The initiative, which has been funded through Connecting Scotland, saw the council being awarded with 200 devices and MiFi boxes to support the project.The project was in partnership with the council’s Housing Solutions, service integrator partner Agilisys and Digital NL’s Driving Digital Locally campaign.The Lanarkshire Live app is available to download now.

Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories, and allows you to customise your page to the sections that matter most to you.Head to the App Store and never miss a beat in Lanarkshire - iOS - Android And the devices were allocated to retirement complexes throughout North Lanarkshire.The weekly drop-in sessions are run by the council's retirement officer Audrey Johnstone, who also acts as a digital champion to the elderly residents.She told Lanarkshire Live: “We run the sessions every Tuesday in our communal area.

They get a tea, coffee and a biscuit - it is going really well."We have about six or seven tenants coming each week and we have set up a buddy system, and they are learning to share their skills."You don’t have to be a digital expert; we are building up a relationship to increase their confidence and help them use their device.”One tenant who attends regularly and has received a new iPad is Nina Laird.She had limited skills using her