The Totnes Rotary Club following on from the fantastic success of their recent schools computer project where over 65 local families were provided with laptops to support their educational needs during lockdown, are now helping Totnes Caring’s elderly clients to get digitally connected.
Building on many years of working together and as part of a 6-month pilot project, Rotary is providing five refurbished laptops and £250 funding for the initial connection to the internet for some of Totnes Caring’s socially isolated clients. Totnes Caring volunteer David Timothy will assist the clients to get set up and using the applications that will be useful to them.
Mary Garvey, the Dementia Services Coordinator for Totnes Caring, said
“This is a great opportunity for Totnes Caring to be able to support more older people to connect with family and friends on line as well as join groups doing things that they enjoy such as music, singing, art, Church, etc. The past year has been a lonely time for many, so we plan to help people to use simple technology, which many find is not as scary as they first thought.”
Sue Bethel, Community Lead for the Rotary Club, responded by saying.“Having worked with Totnes Caring we know how valuable their work is in our town. It is with great pleasure we are able to help them by supplying laptops and providing the initial connectivity requirements. We certainly wish them well with the project and hope that in 6 months we will be able to help them expand the service further.