The UK's most up-to-date social housing and public sector news website
Centre owner Joy Hall and WDH’s Paul Wood officially open the new IT suite
More from Wakefield and District Housing
- Housing association begins search for apprentices
- Wakefield residents say 'no' to cold callers
- Pet rescue: housing group helps new business
- Tenant praises WDH for life-changing employment help
- Young film makers try to combat anti-social behaviour
Advertisement
A community centre in South Kirkby is jumping for joy after Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) and its construction partners Mears helped to kit out their new IT suite.
Mears donated worktops for the suite at Joy's Hall and WDH presented decommissioned laptops so that local people can now learn IT skills at the centre.
Paul Wood, WDH’s Service Director – ICT explains, “WDH is helping to create confident communities and improve choice and opportunity - we see technology as a good way to achieve this whilst offering local people the chance to learn new skills.
“We are impressed with the way in which Joy’s Hall engages with the community and are proud to support their plans by donating the laptops. We hope that they will benefit the community for years to come.”
The centre is a Social Enterprise, owned and run by David and Joy Hall. Visitors to the centre can enjoy hot meals, entertainment and creative workshops, amongst many other activities.
Joy Hall said, “The IT suite is going to open up the world to the people who use it. We want to let our visitors use the laptops to learn in their own time, and at their own pace, in a warm, comfortable and sociable environment.
“There are so many things you can achieve by learning IT skills - like shopping and banking, as well as staying in touch with friends and family - and the fact that we now have the facilities to provide this means that we’ve taken a significant step towards our long-term plan, which is to make the centre self-sustaining and then hand it over to the community.”
The IT suite’s opening event was a Silver Surfers session – part of a national campaign led by Digital Unite to encourage older people to use the internet.
Rose Larkin, 69, was one of the first visitors to use the new laptops. She said, “They are a big help for people my age. The internet is amazing, there’s so much to explore and it’s so good that we can do that in a relaxed atmosphere.”
Arthur Freeman, 57, was also impressed with the new IT suite. He said, “Having these laptops here will definitely encourage me to come down and learn how to use computers and the internet.”
