News
An article in The Guardian, How to lift the digital age barrier, investigates how to overcome the barriers to older people getting online. The article says the key to getting this diverse group of people online is to help them see the value by tapping into their individual interests.
Digital Outreach’s pilot project in 2010, ‘Get Connected, Get Online’, tested this approach by working with local interest groups in the North West to help them see the personal benefits of using the internet. The project brought about some encouraging results, with 62% of participants reporting a positive behaviour change towards the internet. You can read more about the outcomes of this project here.
Success stories
Advice point volunteers help elderly gentleman re-tune his TV
An elderly gentleman who was very hard of hearing came to the advice point run by lead organisation COVER in Thetford. He knew quite a lot about switchover from the TV adverts and door drop leaflets he had received. However, he was struggling to re-tune his TV. He had tried to call the DUK advice line, but because of his hearing difficulty he could not hear the instructions that the adviser was giving him.
He saw an advert in the local paper for the switchover advice point so decided to go down there for some help. The volunteers demonstrated to the gentleman how to re-tune, taking him through the process step by step so he could see what he needed to do. The gentleman knew the model of his TV, so the volunteers looked up the exact instructions for re-tuning his TV and wrote them down for him to take home. The gentleman was really pleased that the volunteers had been there to help him.
Communities Programme volunteer engages trusted people to spread the word ‘
Joan’ is a volunteer for Suffolk ACRE who helped to engage community supporters through the Communities Programme. Joan was taking a trip to the north of the county and took a ‘scenic route’ visiting rural villages along the way. Joan visited many villages, stopping at two drop-in centres, three church groups, a vicar’s, and a disability day centre. She spoke to people she knew about the Switchover Help Scheme and asked them if they knew of anyone in their community who might need support to access the help they were eligible for – for example, because they were isolated or found it difficult to fill in forms.
Two weeks later, Joan re-visited all the villages and found that the people she had spoken to had in turn spoken to people they knew who were eligible for the scheme. The leader of the three church groups said that he’d spoken to a number of people who were eligible, and that one of the congregation had already phoned him to say that the Help Scheme were “coming to sort her TV out”!
Joan was really pleased she had been able to help.
The final transmitter in the Anglia TV region, Tacolneston, switched to digital this month.
During the run-up to the switchover, we worked with VCS organisations in the region who have strong local networks to deliver a range of outreach activities and events to help local residents prepare for the switchover. Together they put in a fantastic effort, delivering some great results for Digital UK and the Switchover Help Scheme and ensuring target groups knew what they needed to do to continue watching TV after the switchover.
Lead organisation COVER ran four advice points on the Tacolneston switchover days, where friendly staff and volunteers supported over 330 people. During the run-up to the switchover, COVER and their partner organisations overachieved on all of their targets, delivering 101% of their end user events and 118% of their one to ones.
Photo: A gentleman receives support from an advice point volunteer
Through the Communities Programme, trained volunteers from Norfolk Rural Community Council (Norfolk RCC) and Suffolk ACRE engaged over 1,200 ‘community supporters’ – people who are known and trusted in their local communities by those the outreach programme aims to reach. These community supporters supported over 100 people to access the Help Scheme.
CSV, which delivered the targeted awareness programme in over 50 Tacolneston postcode areas identified as having a lower response rate to the Help Scheme mailings, engaged volunteers who used their local knowledge and contacts to ensure Help Scheme literature and posters were displayed in 120 community venues (such as medical centres, libraries and churches), and 114 commercial venues (such as post offices, cafes and hairdressers) and encouraged local venue and business owners to spread the word about the scheme.
WRVS made sure that Help Scheme eligible people who requested a home visit received face-to-face support from a friendly volunteer to help them complete their packs, be there with them as a chaperone when the engineer calls, and help them use their new equipment.
Photo: Age UK Norfolk cascade the messages about switchover to their clients.
A big thank you to COVER, Norfolk RCC, Suffolk ACRE, CSV, WRVS and all of the volunteers who gave their time to help. The outreach work you have delivered has ensured that over 6,000 people in the Tacolneston area have received the support they needed to switch to digital – a fantastic result.
In July 2011, Digital Outreach’s new brand Convey delivered community outreach sessions as part of a pilot campaign in Peterborough to help reduce blockages in wastewater pipes and drains. The campaign – commissioned by Anglian Water and managed by social marketing company Corporate Culture - aimed to change people’s behaviour around the waste they put down sinks and toilets.
Blockages in water pipes cause 15,000 blockages a year in the area and cost over £7m a year to clear and prevent. The campaign was very successful, with blockages reduced by more than 60% over just a few weeks. It had a significant impact on people’s attitudes and actions, with the number of people agreeing that reducing blockages is a shared responsibility rising from 52% to 92%, and the percentage saying they were making an extra effort to get rid of waste rising from 51% to 72%. (Source: Street survey, sample of 200 customers)
Anglian Water is now rolling out the project to other ‘hot spots’ where blockages are an issue for local communities. A spectacular animated light show in Peterborough marked the launch of the campaign and explained to residents why the campaign is happening.
Case study – working with the Islamic community in Peterborough
The pilot campaign included a ward in Peterborough where approximately 60% of the population is Muslim. The messaging of the campaign linked in very well with the Islamic faith, which places a high value on water, its purity and cleanliness. Convey approached Peterborough Islam to see if they could help spread the message. The organisation was only too happy to help, and local Imams spoke to over 3,000 people at Friday prayers about the importance of keeping water clean and how residents could take action to reduce contamination in the water in their own communities. Peterborough Islam’s women’s workers were also able to reach Muslim women’s groups to talk to them about putting waste like cooking fat, baby wipes and other items into the bin rather than down the sink or toilet into the water supply.
Convey will be working with Southend Association of Voluntary Services to deliver outreach in the Southend area, and will soon be engaging more voluntary and community sector organisations to help deliver the programme in Northampton, Bedford, Lincoln and Norwich. Supported by training, literature, small grants and giveaways like ‘fat traps’ to make disposing of waste easier, these organisations will cascade the message to other local groups like community groups, children’s centres, faith groups, mother and toddler groups and pre-schools.
The outreach delivered by Convey will link in with activities provided by Anglian Water such as roadshows, engagement with local businesses street teams (to talk to local businesses) and traditional marketing activities like radio/press adverts and posters.
Encouraging results from the pilot project
The results of the pilot project showed the campaign had a big impact on attitudes and behaviours around the disposal of waste.
The chart below shows the rise in concern amongst domestic customers about blockages in wastewater pipes and drains following the pilot. (Source: Street survey, 200 customers)
The chart below shows very large increases in understanding, importance, responsibility and belief that it is easy to act among domestic customers.
If you would like to be amongst the first to hear about new projects such as these, update your details on our database.
Keep It Clear is part of Anglian Water's groundbreaking Love Every Drop sustainability campaign to bring people together to put water at the heart of a new way of sustainable living.
The Home Visit Service is provided by WRVS volunteers on behalf of the Switchover Help Scheme. This service offers support to eligible people in their homes to discuss their options under the Help Scheme, assist them to use their new equipment, or be there as a chaperone when the engineer calls.
Nicola Winson is a Local Service Manager at the WRVS and co-ordinates the service in the Meridian TV region. She has worked for WRVS for five years, starting off in the Meals on Wheels service, and first got involved in the Home Visit service during the run-up to switchover in the Central TV region.
Nicola says: “WRVS’s role involves recruiting and training volunteers and co-ordinating the visits, liaising with Digital Outreach and the Help Scheme contact centre.
“We train the volunteers jointly with Digital Outreach – we cover what WRVS expects of them, health and safety issues and so on, and Digital Outreach gives them an insight into digital switchover. They don’t need to know all the technical information that the engineers do, but they need to know why it’s happening and what people need to do. An important aspect of the service is acting as a good neighbour and making people feel comfortable. I’ve trained about 200 people so far who are keen to volunteer. We’ve met some wonderful people - they’re giving so much to help others and I hope when I get that age, someone will come out and see me!”
People may need a home visit for a variety of reasons: “It could be that they don’t have family, or don’t hear very well – for example we had one lady who had tried to call the Help Scheme, but couldn’t hear what the person on the other end of the phone was saying,” says Nicola. “Some people have memory problems. A lot of older people just don’t like dealing with people over the phone. Our volunteers are comfortable working with people with these sorts of problems and are used to hearing “Who are you?” when they turn up at the door of someone they’ve arranged a visit with! But people soon remember the smiley face coming to the door.”
A home visit service is arranged when someone who is eligible for the Help Scheme gets in touch with the contact centre and requests one. The contact centre then contacts Nicola, who arranges a trained and trusted volunteer to provide the support.
Nicola says that people are happy when they know it’s a WRVS volunteer who will come and see them. “We have a big profile – older people and vulnerable people trust WRVS – they know who we are. It’s not just about providing the service, but about being a good neighbour and giving ongoing support.
“Sometimes, people have asked us direct for the help because they are too worried to ring the call centre, or a friend has told them about it. One lady rang and asked for a home visit, and was impressed with the lovely volunteer and told her neighbour, who thought “I want that!” and rang us direct. When this happens, I ring the Help Scheme on their behalf and ask them to ring the person and confirm this with them.
The volunteers have built people’s confidence about switchover and the Help Scheme. “About 90% of our visits so far have been for a volunteer to talk the person through the Help Scheme letter and discuss their options,” says Nicola. “When they get that form through the door, some people think “oh help!” and are daunted by it, and feel they can’t do it. But when they get that face to face support and someone is talking them through it, it builds their confidence and they feel able to go ahead with the installation. Most people we have visited have felt able to deal with the Help Scheme direct after it has been explained to them.”
Being involved in the home visit service benefits WRVS and its volunteers as well as the people they support. Nicola says: “Working on this project is raising the profile of WRVS, which is an advantage to us and our service users. We have also recruited more volunteers and have been able to keep existing volunteers involved who are sadly without a role at this current time. People volunteer for different reasons but they all get satisfaction from the volunteering – the company, the feeling of being useful and helping others, all lifts morale and they see the difference they are making to people’s lives.
“We’ve got some wonderful volunteers. We have a young man – John - in the Meridian Region who has Downs syndrome and really wanted to help out. I rang his mum and had a chat and they both came along to the training session. At the end of it, his mum actually became a WRVS volunteer! They said that they would work in a pair. John had such a big smile on his face, like he had just won the Lottery, and was so happy that he could help somebody else.”
It also brings wider benefits to the eligible people that they support. “Through this service, we’re reaching people who we’ve never reached before - finding people who are really isolated but could do with some services. Recently, I visited a lady who told me she had an appointment at a hospital and was telling me how much it cost to get there. She asked if WRVS run a bus service and although we don’t, I was able to tell her there is an NHS bus where you just pay £5 and can be driven to any hospital appointment within that city.”
Volunteer profile – Norma and Ian Kennedy
Norma and Ian are a husband and wife in their 70s who volunteer for the Home Library Service, which brings books to people who are housebound. Norma says, “I do this with my husband Ian because I don’t drive.” They got involved with the Home Visit service when notes were sent round asking for volunteers to help. Norma said, “Having done the home visits through the library, we’ve got used to going to people’s houses and how to approach them. We’ve built up quite a relationship with the people we’ve supported.”
So far, Norma and Ian have supported three people under the Home Visit service, providing each of them with options advice. Norma said: “All of them had a basic idea, but wanted to be sure before they committed themselves. We’re in our 70s ourselves so we don’t talk about ‘older people’ – it’s more about the language, and talking it through. What seems to a technical person to be layman’s terms is still more than us ‘mere mortals’ understand!”
“One lady we went to see had a second TV and didn’t know what she was going to do with that. She was a very competent woman, but didn’t want to make the phone call, so we did that for her. The engineer came out and put a new aerial in, installed a digibox on her TV, and when we rang back she said that she was very happy and everything had gone fine.
“Another gentleman we visited was very agitated about the switchover. He had had a stroke, and had also recently fallen for a scam on his computer, which meant he had had to replace all his bank cards. The TV being switched over was the last straw. The gentleman was entitled to free help from the Help Scheme and my husband helped him and his family talk it through. His wife, grandson and daughter were there, so they understood how to help him sort it out. I rang back to check all was OK, and he had got it sorted.”
What Norma enjoys most about working on the home visit service is the difference she can make to somebody. “It’s the satisfaction you feel when people have come to a decision or if things are clearer for them when we leave than when we arrive,” she said.
Please can we take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all the volunteers who have been involved with this project.
We are delighted that four people delivering outreach work have had their outstanding work recognised in the Switchover Help Scheme Charter Awards.
The Help Scheme launched the Charter Awards earlier this year to celebrate the excellent work being carried out by all key Help Scheme delivery partners to serve eligible people. Anyone can be nominated for an Award if they are working on behalf of the Help Scheme – from a volunteer who goes the extra mile to ensure an eligible person isn’t left with a blank screen, to engineers or call centre staff providing an outstanding service.
Over just two months of the awards scheme running, Belinda Shiu from Sheffield Chinese Community Centre, Douglas Pye from the Community Council of Staffordshire, and Brian Goodwin and Jan Hawkins from the Rural Community Council of Essex, have all received awards for their dedication and commitment to supporting eligible people.
Congratulations to Belinda, Doug, Brian and Jan, and a big thank you to those who nominated them.
Belinda Shiu, Centre Manager - Sheffield Chinese Community Centre
Being the manager of the Chinese Community Centre, Belinda is a well known member of the Chinese community in Sheffield. She put in a huge amount of work on the targeted awareness programme in Yorkshire to support the elderly people in her community to access the Help Scheme. As well as conducting sessions to raise awareness of the Help Scheme, she also arranged appointments with each of them so she could register their Help Scheme preferences over the phone on their behalf and book engineer appointments for those who wanted to take advantage of the scheme.
Belinda dealt with several lengthy phone calls on behalf of the elderly Chinese people she represents, and even accompanied people to the post office and arranged payments for those who were not familiar with the process of paying through credit cards.
Douglas Pye, Community Volunteer - Community Council of Staffordshire
Doug is a member of staff at the Community Council of Staffordshire. Working on the Communities Programme, Doug knows how important it is to find individuals who have multiple barriers to accessing the Help Scheme and have ‘triggers’ in their life that make them extremely isolated. He has helped individuals not just to access the Help Scheme but also to help them get back into society.
For example, one gentleman Doug helped was feeling very lonely and isolated since his neighbour moved away. He didn’t get out and about much, but told Doug that he wanted to make new friends. After helping him to access the Help Scheme, Doug made sure that the gentleman had an emergency action plan in place in case anything happens to him and put him in touch with nearby community groups to help reduce his isolation.
Brian Goodwin, Village Agent Manager and Jan Hawkins, Village Agent – Rural Community Council of Essex
Brian and Jan both work for the Rural Community Council of Essex and are involved in delivering the Communities Programme. They did everything they could to help a frail and vulnerable elderly gentleman whose TV had gone blank at switchover, working closely with Tom Pugh from Carillion, who also won an award for the support the three of them gave to the gentleman.
Brian contacted the Help Scheme contact centre on the gentleman’s behalf, but the centre couldn’t help because Brian didn’t have specific details of the individual. Brian made the decision to ask a village agent (Jan) to go and see the gentleman to assess the situation. This was out of Jan’s area, but Jan was happy to help. This was a difficult case due to payment for the Help Scheme, and through a lot of communication between Jan, Brian and Tom Pugh from Carillion, they provided a solution for the gentleman.
As well as sorting out the gentleman’s access to the Help Scheme, Jan became extremely concerned about the gentleman’s living conditions and care package. Because of Jan’s role as the village agent, she has now contacted social services to make sure the gentleman’s care package was upgraded to suit his needs.
Do you know anyone who deserves an award for the work they are doing on behalf of the Help Scheme to support eligible people? Nominating is simple – just send your completed nomination form to charterawards@helpscheme.co.uk. If you don't have a nomination form, please contact Debra Allcock for a copy.