We offer a structured training programme for groups and communities. We call it the Digital Unite Community Programme - DUCP – and we’re enormously proud of it because it delivers such great results.
It was designed for Sheltered Housing Residents – but works for all sorts of groups.
How it works…
We teach a group of people IT skills. As the group learns, they create a self-sustaining, self-teaching digital community. Our emphasis is on working with you to create a community that lasts and keeps on growing, long after the formal training has finished.
It takes around 12 months to seed the community. We tailor a training programme that identifies the ideal skills and appropriate people to start learning new skills. It’s normally a mixture of group members/ residents and staff/ key workers. We also help you find local mentors who’ll get involved, maybe from volunteering groups or schools. (A DUCP works very well as an intergenerational project).
We help you set up the equipment and start you off with intensive training. Then we provide regular training sessions, and as the group improves, we gradually step back. We can continue to provide online support, and you can always access our learning guides. But by the end of the course, everyone’s learnt new skills and your group is supporting and encouraging each other. You don’t need us at all!
What do people learn?
People learn a range of skills. But you don’t just learn how to email/ print/shop/ surf etc (though they learn that too). Through the IT skills learnt on a DUCP, people…
- Find new friends and combat loneliness
- Gain confidence, independence & self-esteem
- Re-connect with younger people and wider society
- Make their voices heard
We know it does all this, because the lovely people at Virgin Media sponsored a series of DUCPs and we were able to research the results in full. There’s more information about it here.
What kind of groups does it suit?
Any. We developed DUCPs specifically for Sheltered Housing residents with our good friends at EroSh. But it works for all kinds of groups and because it’s all about sharing and supporting others, it doesn’t matter if the group has mixed skill levels. You need a shared space with a computer that you can access regualrly.
How much does it cost?
That depends on the size, location and set-up of the group. As well as the DUCPs, we offer a Consultation Service for those who don’t want a full training programme. We’ll listen to your needs and concerns, audit your resources and advise on setting up your own training system. Costs start at £300 for an initial consultation. We also deliver tailored Best Practice workshops for up for 40 people, from £500.
Contact us if you’d like more information or if you have any questions. Signing up for a DUCP is a big step: we won’t pressure you to buy into anything but we will help you work out what you need.