Care provider, Harrogate Neighbours is launching a monthly ‘Tech Tuesday’ drop-in session at Starling Independent Beer & Coffee House.
The community hub project comes off the back of a successful pilot in Starbeck which saw over 100 people use the service. As a subsidiary of Harrogate Neighbours – The Hub acts as a community anchor, offering signposting and support for older and vulnerable people living in the community.
Development & Communications Manager, Jamie Nicholson-Ruther said:
The concept is that we can expand awareness of Harrogate Neighbours by partnering with a local business (Starling) and offer free tech support and advice.
This is based on a model that has been piloted in Starbeck at 2 locations: The Starbeck Library and the Harrogate Neighbours Community Hub. Over the past year and a half, we have been able to help with over 100 IT issues, and we realised there is likely a bigger need in Harrogate.
Not everyone has access to technical support, and we can help with a range of issues, including pop-ups, volume on your phones, and machines not working as expected, as well as filling out online forms, booking appointments, and answering questions. We won’t be doing repairs, and the advice is very much well-meaning but not professionally trained.
We want to reach people who may not be confident about using their devices for certain things or have questions that no one has been able to answer for them.
We can install apps, adjust settings, help increase font size, set up profiles, answer questions and so much more.
The tech support will take place on the first Tuesday of every month at Starling Independent Beer and Coffee House in Harrogate, between 2 and 4 pm. No appointments are required, and support is given on a first-come, first-served basis.
Simon Midgley from Starling said:
This is a great initiative helping more vulnerable members of the community.
So much in life these days is tech based, and it can be very confusing and frustrating for more elderly people. Offering a support network is a commendable project and one we are more than happy to support.
The more we can bring the community together and support each other the better, and Starling are happy to be part of it.
People who have already benefitted from the service have said:
“Without Jamie, I don’t know where I’d be. He has helped me with my phone and my laptop problems and is very patient as I explain the issue.” Julie, 82
“The Free Tech support has been wonderful, really very good. Jeff helped with online forms and making sure I was visiting legitimate websites.” Gary, 89.
Starling is wheelchair accessible and located in the centre of Harrogate. The address is 47 Oxford St, Harrogate HG1 1PW. The next session will be on Tuesday 2 June, between 2-4pm.
