Help someone to explore a new world

Please note: this post is 132 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

It's hard to remember a time when the internet wasn't essential to day-to-day life. Most of us use our phones, tablets and laptops in an online cycle of spare time, work, spare time, work.

Our generation lives online. We depend on it to discover and exchange information, to bank and pay bills, to buy and sell, for entertainment and most frequently for communicating and social networking with friends, family and colleagues all over the world.

We remember our passwords and not friends' phone numbers. We can discover and learn any fact without consulting an encyclopaedia. We can order our weekly food shop in minutes. We can find out what's going on nearby (or far away) from our sofas.

But for some of our older neighbours who have never used the internet at all, it can seem like an intimidating and unattainable world. The benefits seem ambiguous and the know-how is distant. The government's digital inclusion strategy tells us that there are four main barriers getting in the way:

• Access – the ability to actually go online and connect to the internet;
• Skills – to be able to use the internet;
• Motivation – knowing the reasons why using the internet is a good thing;
• Trust – the risk of crime, or not knowing where to start to go online.

This is where you come in. You know how it works, and you can explain it in simple language. You can help someone feel confident and connected. You could spend a few hours each month to help an older neighbour one-to-one at a tech workshop or by visiting them. It can make a huge difference to someone's day to day life.

Nolmy has been coming to our tech workshops in Brixton for six months now. Volunteers like Nick, Lorna and Katie have helped her to navigate through her browsers and search engines so she can pay her bills online and contact her housing association. She's just bought a tablet and they're now helping her gain the skills and confidence to use that too!

Albert was one of many people who thought the internet wasn't for him. He'd never used it and had never thought about how it could improve his connectivity with the world. He can't get out and walk around London as he used to. He can no longer visit family proactively or do his weekly food shop. Through our Love Your Neighbour volunteer Anya, this has all changed: "it's changed my outlook on life. It opens up a new world to people in my position... life is less dull!" He's walking around on Google maps, talking to family on Facebook and doing his first online food shop. Check out his selfie!