A Shrewsbury based social group for adults with physical disabilities that meets twice a week for activities and trips are planning to use Social Media to attract more people to join them.

The group meets twice a week at the Mereside Community Hall in Shrewsbury, the gang come from as far as Oswestry, however the majority are more local. The activities that they get involved in vary from week to week but include craft activities such as pottery, botcher an indoor form of bowling and group trips including visits to the seaside.

The Group have apply named themselves the Muskerteers & Maidens (M&M) - All for one and one for all!

Some members of the gang already use Social Media with the support of their Personal Assistants, friends and family and realised the reach and potential it could have. M&M want to be able to engage with other like-minded people, who would benefit from what their group has to offer. That being friendship, a good laugh, a cup of tea and a biscuit with the added bonus of trips and activities to get involved in.

Get Shropshire Online were invited by the Preventative Services Team from Shropshire -Rural Community Council to support the group in the use of using the Internet safely. It was quite evident during these sessions that some members of the group were fairly IT savvy and wished to have a conversation about Facebook. Their idea being to create a Group Page to showcase the things they do.

Our first job has been to talk generally about Facebook and how it works and what would be the best setup for the group to manage. We then needed to make sure that enough members of the group had the skills to be able to administer the page, this skilling up also includes the Personal Assistants who support them.

During this period we discovered that some members had never had the inclination to sit at a computer before and experience what the Internet can do. However once we found a hook they were keen to look at more with support. M&M have their own laptop which can be used by all the group, however the members were keen to bring in their own equipment too, which was great! The only problem being that the building has no Wi-Fi and we have to rely on Dongles which can be a little problematic at times.

M&M are a very enthusiastic group of people and keen to get involved, hence an informal and completely unplanned IT group has been created and members of the group who know more are sharing their skills with other members, offering peer to peer support.

The group really enjoy the time they have to share pictures, gossip and talk about the past and their experiences. We aim to get a Mi-Fi gadget to empower the group as this will give them Wi-Fi and greater flexibility. At the moment they need us there with our Dongles, which is not great for the groups independence…plus this bit of kit sometimes lets us down!

We continue to work towards the Facebook page and give support to those members who need it. Watch this space because a M&M Page will be coming soon!

I have just found a post that I did not send to our blog! It’s fairly old, but I am going to post it anyway because I think it’s a good one…

It ‘s 2012 and the Olympic Games have been held in London…for all of the residents at the Uplands this is the second games they have witnessed in London, the other being in 1948 after the Second World War, the world had not had an Olympic Games since Berlin in 1936.

London 1948 Olympic Games

This week the WRVS team were situated in another area of the care home, some of the residents who use the lounge have profound dementia & are very challenging to reach. However this does not deter the team and they walk in & around the room in their relaxed and friendly way talking to everyone and introducing themselves to anyone they have not met yet.

The Olympics are on the TV & they have recently celebrated a 100th Birthday! WOW!! So I pitch up with my laptop & become inspired by the Games, I begin to search for information. 1948 Games- Lord Burghley & Lord Lindsey – Chariots of Fire - Nigel Havers – Coronation Street, we’ve drawn quite a crowed! Most are just happy to listen & interact in their way, as I am spouting off useless but interesting tip bits of information.

Nobody responded with direct responses or questions to do with the subject we were chatting about, but the people in the lounge were definitely engaging with us. As we left one of the ladies followed us out exclaiming that she enjoys our visits and called the volunteer by her first name! It was an incredible moment as ten minutes earlier this lady had been pouring juice over a chaps biscuit & had been struggling to communicate.

The WRVS work tirelessly with individuals at the Uplands Residential Home in the hope that they can draw a memory or some form of recognition about a particular place, person, piece of music or object.

I am now even more convinced that these visits are worth while and are beneficial to the individuals at the Uplands - we should never stop talking even if that person doesn’t look as if they can hear you.

These pictures have been taken from the Alzheimer’s Societies website as I did not feel it was appropriate to have taken any pictures during the Reminiscing Session. TTFN!

Volunteers in Market Drayton

It’s nearly 12 months since we set up our first Get Online Group in Market Drayton Library. The group was developed to support first time users or people who lack the confidence to go it solo.

All the volunteers are from the local area, they give 1-1 support to members of their community, going at the learners pace. We wanted the experience to be learner focused as we felt that this was crucial to the success of the group. Personal experiences often dictate future habits and we wanted this to be a positive one and for the learner to carry on using the Internet.

Taster Session for Job Seekers in Shrewsbury

Since setting up the first group in Market Drayton we now have 7 others in the market towns and villages in Shropshire. The groups have only been put in locations where there isn’t current provision either by a college, Age Uk, Shropshire Councils Broadplaces or another community group. Get Shropshire Online has always been an advocate for partnership work, sharing resources and not reinventing the wheel! If we know someone local who can do the job & is appropriate to the individual we sign post them over, it’s good to talk.

Our volunteers have helped 105 individuals in Shropshire to learn how to use the Internet & email, we have supported 21 job seekers to take their first steps towards using the Internet for job searching purposes. The Get Shropshire Online Volunteers are passionate about being Digital Inclusive and have given their time to work with people with specific needs.

Volunteer & Learner at Cheswardine Hall

Currently the groups are going through change as one of the original aims of Get Shropshire Online was to create groups which are sustainable and locally run. This is a process that 2 of our groups have already managed!

Shifnal Volunteers

Bridgnorth Volunteers

If you would like further details about the groups please follow this Link

We hope to have all the groups running independently by the end of the year, however they will all remain affiliated to Shropshire-RCC & have support from Get Shropshire Online.

 Last week I met up with Lee Lewis (WRVS) and one of her volunteers at the Uplands Residential Home in Shrewsbury, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as this is a new area of work for us, using the internet as a tool for reminiscing.

 I was armed with my laptop and the other two ladies had objects and postcards to share. We plonked ourselves down in the lounge area where the residents entertained family visitors and began to make conversation with the group. I quickly established that at least one member grew up in Tibberton Shropshire and found the local church using Google. It turned out that the others were family members and this sparked them into reminiscing about how the 2 sisters, Freda and Ulla  had both got married and had been bridesmaids for one another too.

Freda started laughing because her family and most of the village had told her not to get involved with her husband Victor! As you can imagine they have been together for quite some time now. His family originated from Watersupton, we managed to find his grandfather’s house using Google earth’s street view. This started a conversation about how his Grandfather was the local doctor and the surgery was situated at the front of the house.Of course this was well before the NHS and people had to pay to get any help.  

Apparently his family were part of a service that organised medical care for the village. I think they went by the name of Goodfellows. The Goodfellows would be given a couple of pennies a month by different families in the village and this would be kept safe until someone was ill and either needed to see the doctor or receive treatment. The Goodfellows would then pay the Doctor or pay for the medical treatment and the sick person would be given a receipt that they would hand over to the Doctor or hospital.

 The whole experience was full of laughter…I have some fab pictures! It was so easy to do and I think we all found it rewarding and worthwhile. Next time we need to record the story’s and I plan to have a conversation with Lee about finding some funding for them to invest in a tablet for this type of thing. The laptop was great, however to get full interaction I think we need something a little more practical and compact. The laptop is a little heavy and awkward whereas the tablet could be easily passed around.

 Using the internet as a tool in this way was brilliant as we were able to find things many of these people probably hadn’t seen or heard in years. As you know through the internet we can access all sorts of wonderful things that could kick start a memory or stir the imagination. I view it as a big library a resource that allows us to tap into images, music, films, history….