IT lessons help reunite father and son

Published by Julie Jones NWHA for North Wales Housing Association in Housing and also in Communities, Education

A man living in supported housing in Bangor has made contact with his son for the first time in 10 years, thanks to the help of a Support Worker from North Wales Housing.

Adrian Mitchell had been keen to re-establish contact with his son for some time, but with very limited IT skills and no knowledge of  how to access the necessary computers, he had found it impossible to make any progress. Fortunately, a Support Worker employed by North Wales Housing was able to provide some much-needed assistance.

Together the pair visited Bangor library, where members can access computers and use the internet free of charge. This enabled Adrian to gain the basic computer skills he needed to search the web and, ultimately, find his son on a social networking site. With further assistance from his Support Worker, Adrian composed an email to his son. A week later they returned to the library to find that they had received a reply.

Adrian’s son reported that he was doing well, and that he was soon to become a ranking officer in the Navy. Adrian also discovered that he was the grandfather to a little boy he never knew existed:

“I was over the moon to read the email from my son, and I feel extremely proud of what he has achieved. I can’t believe I am using a computer after 40 years - I feel like I’m back in school!”

The relationship between father and son has now moved forward to speaking on the phone, and both are keen to stay in contact with each other. Adrian is also committed to further developing his IT skills - under the guidance of his Support Worker, he has just completed unit one of the free BBC Webwise online course.