Sylvia Sainsbury
The development coordinator at Third Age Computer Fun recounts her week
Monday: It's the first day at our new offices. We're sharing a space with other social enterprises and charities and I'm feeling excited and anxious. Thankfully, everyone is nice and easy to approach. I've recently been promoted to the role of development coordinator after volunteering for the charity for nine months. Sadly, I need to give up some of my home tutoring visits, which means I will no longer work with a lady who lives in a care home and doesn't get many visitors. But I introduce her to her new volunteer tutor and we promise to keep in touch. I then make a dash for the bus to get to our computer club in Corstorphine. It's only 1.5 miles away but the buses are so infrequent that getting there is stressful.
Tuesday: I'm supposed to be interviewing six new volunteer tutors this morning, but only two people turn up. We find that a lot of potential volunteers end up finding jobs and can no longer give their time, or the Jobcentre sends them away on courses so they don't turn up to meetings. It's frustrating when this happens, but that's the downside of relying on volunteers.
Wednesday: Today I'm at our club in Fountainbridge. During the session, a lady in her seventies comes up to me looking rather confused. She says that she hasn't been given a computer to work on. I explain that the laptop on her desk is actually a computer and that they now come in all shapes and sizes.
Thursday: It's our afternoon club in Restalrig. One of our members wants help with transferring files from her camera to her computer. I point to the icon on the screen that she needs to click, but instead she presses her finger on the icon. We look at each other and both burst out laughing.
Friday: I head off to one of our clubs in the centre of Edinburgh. Getting there can be hectic because the traffic can almost grind to a halt. Sometimes I wish I had a jet pack - it would be a lot quicker than public transport. But I arrive in the nick of time.
Third Age Computer Fun is a charity that runs computer clubs for the over-50s in Edinburgh
Sylvia Sainsbury is the development coordinator at Third Age Computer Fun
