A church in Frampton has been helping people get online to access services and support. Members of the worshipping community from St Mary’s Church, Frampton on Severn, took part in a free course to help them understand and use technology.
The Technology in our Daily Lives Day aimed to help people who wanted to book doctors’ appointments, bank online, make video calls to families and friends and access entertainment using smartphones, tablets, laptops and other devices. The community group G11 in conjunction with St Mary’s Church delivered instruction on how technology can be used to their benefit.
The Revd Liz Palin says, “The idea came out of a community coffee morning we’d arranged to explore the areas where we could best serve the people living in the area, and difficulties accessing IT and using technology was a common problem. There was a bit of a fear around it. So this project was born.
“Like most churches, during the pandemic, we had to shift our services to online, but we were also very conscious that would isolate some people. The aim of the day was to explain how to safely use technology to benefit people’s daily lives. I was also able to show how the church uses technology to support parishioners by broadcasting services, informing the local community of events, and providing useful contact information.”
A representative of the new doctor’s surgery group, Culverhay Surgery, also attended the day to make links with the community and provide information on how patients could access their services.
G11 provided different devices as examples and participants were encouraged to bring their own so the team could answer any questions they had on their use.
The day was funded by a £1,500 grant from Sylvanus Lysons, and a reporter from BBC Radio Gloucestershire went along to find out more and interview leaders and participants.
Caroline Lumsden said, “Technology has moved so far, and I’ve just found it really difficult to keep abreast of things. Worse is knowing how to get rid of stuff because at the moment my laptop and smartphone aren’t syncing together, so I’ve got too much stuff. I’ve learned how to do my prescription online. I’ve also learned that you can get access to the physio at the hospital and self-refer, which I had no idea about before. So, all in one, it’s been fantastic.”
Liz says, “G11 was superb, the participants loved it and want to meet regularly for a cyber café. We had a fab lunch supplied by the local pub, and have bought two tablets for people to use at the church community café to access the internet.
“The joy when someone learned how to FaceTime was priceless.”
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