Digital donation opens doors for Bridlington Community Centre

A SUITE of computers has opened for the people of Bridlington to use for free. The suite of five computers and two laptops has been brought together by HEY Smile Foundation for the Crown Community Centre in Quay Road, Bridlington with the generous support of KCOM.

KCOM has donated five desk top computers and Smile has supplemented this with two laptops, software and everything the suite needs to help people get online.

The Hinge will have a weekly drop-in session to support people using the service. People like William Collinson, who was the first person to access the new suite, he is hoping to end months of unemployment and change his life chances.

He is going to work with Hinge staff to build the best CV possible.

The 28-year-old said: “Sometimes I don’t know where to start and knowing I can get support makes me feel I can make a start. I am unemployed. I want my life to change, and I feel glad I can get help. I have lost confidence. I really want to get a job so that I can go places and enjoy life”

Jo Sanders, Manager of the Hinge said: “We are really excited to be able to offer people the chance to go online for free. We know that the computers will make a big difference to the community we reach it means people can do everything from applying for a job to homework. We are very grateful to Smile and KCOM for making this possible we want to do more than support people; we want to open doors for them and opening a digital hub will help us to do that.”

Louise Babych, KCOM’s Community Lead Digital Switchover, said: “We were delighted to make a significant contribution to the Crown Community Centre’s digital hub and also to provide an engineer to help get it up and running.

“We know that prosperity comes in many forms and that having access to excellent digital equipment is a way people can enhance their life chances. We were also able to dedicate an engineer to helping to get the suite of equipment up and running and we were glad to use our expertise and give that help. We are dedicated to the communities we work in and collaborating with Smile has given us the chance to carry out work that we believe in.”

Michelle Barnes, Smile’s Community Development Team Coordinator, helped to bring the suite of equipment together as part of her work to establish digital suites in places of digital deprivation in the East Riding.

She said: “Smile opened the Crown Community Centre last year and it has become a thriving centre at the heart of Bridlington. We have helped to establish a number of digital hubs across the East Riding and we know that they work in busy places. It is our aim to increase access and skills in areas of digital deprivation so that communities don’t get left behind.”

‘Stephen Curtis, Chair of the East Riding Digital Inclusion Network (ERDIN)  recognised the importance of the hub. He said: “We really welcome this new Digital Hub in Bridlington. All residents need to have a local place to go where they can get help to get online safely particularly at this time when people are struggling with the cost of living.

Contact

To find out more about the digital events taking place at The Hinge please get in touch.