Happy Birthday to Free Computer Advice service

Time flies when you are having a great time. It has been a year since we started the free computer help and support service in partnership with AgeUK Suffolk. The service is offered at the well-equipped and friendly AgeUK Ipswich help centre in Ipswich Town Centre. The service has gone from strengthen to strengthen since the launch in July 2015. It is so popular that it was fully booked months ahead!

Following Lxpert’s founding mission, the free computer help and support service was launched with one goal in mind – “to help people get online and use technology”. We are very proud to say that we certainly have achieved that.

To-date, we have held 51 sessions, helped more than 160 customers and contributed over 100 hours of volunteering time. Our customers found the service friendly and helpful and we consistently received top marks feedback. They also told us that they would use the service again and would recommend it to their friends and family.

The enquiries we received cover many areas of computing. No two sessions were the same which made it fun and challenging. For instance, in terms of learning, we taught our customers how to use laptop and tablet, use email, find information online and watch catch-up TV. And we explored some useful and fascinating online services with our customers. In terms of advice, we provided guidance on what computer or tablet to get and how to get started going online. In terms of support, we helped our customer fixed their computer, smartphone or tablet issues. However, most of the time, we were here to help them demystify the digital world and help them gain confidence in using technology.

Here are a few quotes from our customers:

• “Absolutely fabulous! It encourages me to use my computer more!"
• "Helpful. Informative. Pleasant surroundings. Nice people. I'll come back for further knowledge".
• "Explained well. Wonderful teacher. Wish it could be longer."
• “I've learnt more today than any other time. Very satisfactory!"
• “Solved my problems. Helped me save lots of money!
• “Very helpful and very patient. It's nice and comfortable talking to the expert without feeling stupid. So nice to have some help. Thank you for being there.”

Moreover, we have helped AgeUK raised more than £300 donations. Although not a huge sum of money, every penny raised helps change a local life. The poster below shows how the money can help change a local life.

The service was featured on the local newspaper and radio. What’s more can we ask for?

We are very proud of what we have achieved together and we are looking into expanding this service so that more people can benefit from it. We are looking into offering more help sessions, running special classes for absolute beginners and organising computer clubs. So watch this space!

Finally, I would like to thank all our customers, our IT experts (lxperts), Lxpert team, AgeUK Suffolk team and people in the local community for all your support. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you.

Kennedy

Founder and CEO

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