Silver Surfers day              Archive

	Hairnet's Silver Surfers' Day, 2003 -making the Internet work for the over-50s
May 16 is Silver Surfers' Day this year; it's the Friday of Adult Learners' Week, 2003.

This week happens every year, and is on its 11th birthday. So there will be bunting on every learning establishment in the land. It's co-ordinated by NIACE (National Institute of Adult Continuing Education) who've helped Hairnet--the innovative computer training company -- to give birth to Silver Surfers' Day.

City & Guilds is supporting Hairnet, too, and so is Research Machines.  

Age Concern is also part of it--they have IT centres all over the country where silver surfers are even now beavering away in cyberspace.            

Last year's Silver Surfers' Day (the first one ever in the UK) was a terrific success. Hundreds of 'first-timers' or nearly first-timers, had an experience of Internet and email in organisations and agencies throughout the UK.  

Hairnet also found its first-ever Silver Surfer of the Year – that's Hector, aged 86, who's a role-model to anyone of any age.

Thank you to everyone who took part.  

Now, it's time to start again. If you:    

• are someone, or know someone, who could become Silver Surfer of the Year, or,    

•  run or know of an organisation or agency with an Internet connection and public access, then read on…    

EVENTHOLDERS 

All types of venue are encouraged to open their doors to 'Net-beginners' over 50. All you need to have is at least one computer with an Internet connection, public access and the willingness – and need - to welcome people. RESOURCES FOR EVENTHOLDERS  

Free stuff

If you're interested in holding an event, then please:

email silver@hairnet.org  with the word 'RESOURCES' in the subject field. This will bring you an email pack, sometime in the next fortnight, with two documents. These documents are: 'Planning a Silver Surfers' Day' (chapter and verse on how to make a successful event culled from Hairnet's years of expertise) and 'Hints for Silver Surfers', for your guests to take away with them. (We can't enter into detailed correspondence about this, so if you need to ask something specific, please send a separate email to silver@hairnet.org with an appropriate subject.)

Free people

We've got Hairnet trainers all over the UK who'd be delighted to lend their training expertise for a day on or near May 16. Send an email to silver@hairnet.org with the words 'TRAINER NEEDED [+your post-code]' in the subject field.  

The above article is part of the features section of laterlife.com called laterlife interest. laterlife interest contains a variety of articles of interest for visitors to laterlife.com written by a number of experienced and new journalists.

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