“On Wednesday, I went along to what was perhaps Sheffield’s flagship Get online week event – a big drop-in session supported by lots of partners and volunteers that took place at the Town Hall. The event was a great example of partnership working – the council and local UK online centre came together, and got lots of other partners on board to talk about their online services, and to support people who needed a bit of help to use them. There were Wii games and free tea and coffee – what more did you need?

“Unfortunately, I spent the morning not in the warm town hall but on the steps outside, armed with a bunch of leaflets, trying to encourage people to come inside and brush up their skills.

“I won’t lie – it wasn’t an easy job. I lost count of the number of times I was told “I’m too old”, “These computers, they’re not for me” or “I just don’t have time.”

“Breaking down the barriers wasn’t just hard – at times it was impossible unless I wanted to chase people down the street. At best I could hand them a leaflet and encourage them to think about it – and hope that in the end, some of them will do.

“There’s 8 million of these people in the UK that, for one reason or another, have resisted the draw to get online. And we might have to give them leaflets ten times, or twenty times, or more, before they make the first move to get online.

And so a campaign like Get online week is just a great excuse for us to get out of the office and chat to some of the people the campaign has supported.

In the next couple of days, I thought I’d share some stories from the team who have been out and about during Get online week – and first up is our training manager, Aniela.

Aniela says: “It’s easy to get caught up in your day-to-day job, so it’s really nice to get out from behind your computer and sit behind a computer with someone else, and see things through their eyes. This week, I was lucky enough to visit Painted Fabrics, a sheltered housing scheme in Sheffield where Heeley Development Trust run a regular session. On the day I visited, seven ladies, all in their 70s or above, were chatting and learning how to do more online – the very essence of a Get online week event!

“I managed to sit down with Marilyn, who had been coming to the sessions for a while. Since starting, she’s learnt to do a number of things – including using eBay which she was loving.

“Although she was quite experienced, Marilyn needed some help. She’d bought her own Netbook two years ago, but when she finally felt confident to give the internet a go at home, and tried to log on a couple of weeks ago, the password wasn’t working.

“I use computers and the internet every day, but I was pretty lost when I tried to help Marilyn. We even tried to find some Youtube how-to guides, but I found them very confusing, so I dread to think what a beginner would think!

“The session finished before we got Marilyn’s computer sorted, but I’m determined not to let it beat me! I’m planning to take one of our resident techies back to help her in a couple of weeks and I’m hoping we can get her up and running soon!

Mid October may not be a traditional time for reflection and self-analysis, but in the run up to my sixth Get online week campaign (15 to 21 October), I find myself thinking about exactly how far we’ve come.  

Part of this, of course, is prompted by the publication of our latest Annual Review, which showcases just what a year April 2011 – March 2012 was for us – full of change and new beginnings.  If you read my blog regularly, you’ll know that last December we became a staff owned mutual running a social enterprise, which has had huge implications on what we do – and even on how we feel.

Before the very first Get online week was even a twinkle in the already twinkly eyes of former MP Derek Wyatt (a story for another time) the idea of being a self-operated, independent body was – at best – a pipe dream.  (Or given my views on people vs pipes, perhaps I should say a ‘people’ dream).  

The journey to becoming a mutual wasn’t an easy one.  We had to imagine the kind of organisation we wanted to be, articulate that in a competitive bid, and then establish ourselves as an independent body with a new board to steer us, a new strategy and new funding streams and partners to work with – and this all had to happen at breakneck speed.  But being a mutual has meant that we can be more responsive, more flexible, and more strategic about our work.  The buck stops with us, and it means we work harder and smarter to achieve what we want for our customers, consumers and network (although I’d like to add that I think we worked pretty hard before mutualisation too!)

The highlights of what we’ve achieved so far as a mutual – and in the lead up to mutualisation – are too numerous to count.  Our annual review shares a small number of them, as well as setting out our plans for the future as we diversify what we do, working in communities to inspire change through technology, and helping organisations and government prepare for the shift to digital – so everyone can take advantage of the huge benefits of technology.  Please give it a glance.

Technology can empower communities, bring them together and help them thrive.  The problem is that hard-pressed local and community organisations often struggle to harness its power.  

For many, it’s difficult to know where to start – what’s out there and how it could help.  For others, it’s a matter of time.  If you’re running round trying to get things done and make ends meet, then researching and experimenting with digital tools is simply not top of your to-do list.  But digital tools can actually help community workers save time, manage their projects and even raise important funds.  And there are people out there who are making work – and work hard – for their projects and clients.    

At OCF we want to capture some of that experience, and make it easier for community organisations to use technology to do more of what they do best.  

With that in mind we’re running a new Conference next month, which aims to inspire community organisations to adopt new digital tools.  Digital evolution, local action is a one day Conference taking place on 27 November at the BT Centre in London.

The conference will be chaired by former Labour Schools Minister and Employment Minister, Lord Jim Knight (also our Chair at OCF). Delegates will get to take part in interactive workshops and hear from the experts about how technology can be used to deliver projects, improve services, build communities and organise local action.  Speakers will include Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd MP , Marcelle Speller founder of Localgiving.com, Dan Thompson – the creator of #riotcleanup and #WeWillGather, and Ken Banks, founder of kiwanja.net, which helps non-profit organisations in Africa and around the world make better use of technology.  

I’m really excited about the conference and the opportunity to give local social innovators new tools to do their day-to-day work – and hopefully more confidence in their personal ability to make a difference.  These are the people who are in the driving seat for social justice in Britain.  If you’re one of them and feel you could make more of technology to make more of an impact, it would be great to have you join this conversation.

Find out more the Conference here or follow the latest news on #dela2012.