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Manchester Digital Champion

Manchester Digital Champion
Organisation: Manchester City Council
Minimum amount of hours required:

Flexible Opportunity - No minimum requirement

Time for the opportunity:

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Description of opportunity:

 

Covid-19 has presented many challenges and we need your help to continue to support residents across the city to develop their digital skills.

An estimated 27,000 residents in Manchester are digitally excluded - without access or the skills to use and benefit from the internet.

Without access to the internet residents are at risk of becoming even more vulnerable as they find themselves unable to; access vital services, stay informed or keep in contact with friends or family - becoming completely socially isolated. We need volunteers to work with our Digital Inclusion team to ensure we can bridge the digital divide and leave no one behind!

What will you be doing?

A Manchester Digital Champion makes telephone calls to residents who have internet access; to support them to learn or develop digital skills and make the most of (or access) devices. You will be assigned residents to make contact with by the Council’s digital inclusion team.  You will be expected to make these telephone calls using your own phone. You will empower residents to use the internet by supporting and enabling them to build their knowledge and self-confidence, and will do this in a number of ways;

- Explaining and demonstrating how to use laptops, tablets, smartphones

- Creating email accounts

- Arranging online food shopping slots

- Help with making video calls through - Zoom, Skype, Facebook and WhatsApp

- Assistance with arranging appointments/ reaching health, care and wellbeing services

- Discussing online banking and how to pay bills online/ save money

All volunteers will be adequately trained and provided with the right and correct information they need to signpost manchester residents on to the right services for further support. The types of things you may refer residents on for further support are;

- Online training and learning - directing residents to appropriate training provider

- Support groups - Accessing links to local groups who can support with loneliness et

- Financial advice - JCP for support with benefits and Citizens Advice for suppor

- Employment - using the internet to apply or search for jobs

What kind of person are we looking for?

We are looking for volunteers who are great listeners, patient and have a good level of digital literacy to be able to coach and motivate residents to find their feet by using the internet and their devices.

No formal training is required. We will provide you with all the required information and guidelines through an induction.

We want to recruit volunteers from across the city including those who speak a variety of languages, so welcome applications from multilingual speakers, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates, disabled, those aged over 50, as all are groups currently under-represented across our existing volunteer database.

What will you get out of volunteering?

By volunteering with us we hope to offer you the opportunity to gain and develop skills, including; advising and supporting others, problem solving, leadership, communication and skills in training others. We hope donating your time to give something back to your local community boosts your well being and makes our cities neighbourhoods build resilience.

The task is challenging. It will take hard work, energy and commitment. Manchester is a city that gets things done – we will combine our efforts to save lives and support communities throughout this unprecedented time.

There are currently no volunteer opportunities.