Pupils share digital skills with pensioners thanks to Fibrus Broadband

Children were able to use their digital skills to help pensioners with their IT needs thanks to a grant from the Fibrus Community Fund.

KABS, the parent committee of Broughton Primary School, set up to advance the education of pupils in Great Broughton, has launched a new initiative to bring the generations together to make the most of digital opportunities. Pensioners enjoying a community lunch at Little Broughton village hall were delighted when pupils dropped in to offer them some tips and demonstrate how they use tablets for their schoolwork.

Among those to get some advice from the youngsters was Linda Taylor who picked up some useful tips she’ll be using at home. “I’ve really enjoyed seeing the children and how interested they are in their work. The pupils showed me how to delete things to free up space because my devices are often full up,” she said.

Grace Sewell was also impressed with the impromptu tech lesson too, adding: “Everything the children taught us was very interesting. I didn’t realise you could now do so much on electronic devices. It’s a great way of learning for the children too and it was nice to see how enthusiastic they were.”

The pupils enjoyed the session too as they spent time demonstrating various apps and features on their iPads. Penny, nine, said: “The iPads are so fun, we are really lucky to have our own iPads at school.

“I showed the ladies an app called notes. There is a voice button and it helps you with spellings if you are writing letters which they said would be useful.”

KABS committee member and school parent Emma Lankester is delighted to see the project taking shape. She said: “Thank you to Fibrus, this is going to make such a difference to our community in many different ways.

“We now have digital champions in the school who will be meeting the older community who might not be as confident with the internet or have the same knowledge about new technology. A £1750 grant from the Fibrus Community Fund funded iPads which will be used in lessons to ensure each child has an iPad available to them.

They will also be used for community digital projects such as helping older people with technology and for delivering internet safety education events for parents and carers.

The Fibrus Community Fund was set up by the Full Fibre broadband provider last year to address digital poverty in the communities it serves across Cumbria and Northern Ireland.

Linda McMillan, Chief People Officer at Fibrus, said: “Bringing the benefits of Full Fibre broadband to communities is at the heart of what we do.”

“However, sometimes even more help is needed to allow everyone to reap the benefits of being connected, and that’s why we’re delighted that our Community Fund can help groups like KABS ”

“We applaud KABS for creating a project that both allows children to access devices, but also reduces isolation in the older generation by allowing children to act as digital mentors. Pupils will help the older generation with things such as emailing their grandchildren or ordering groceries online, allowing them to stay connected, while developing leadership skills in children. We are proud to support a project that can connect and elevate many members of the community.

Fibrus, in partnership with Cumbria Community Foundation, established the Community Fund Cumbria in April 2023 to work to reduce digital poverty with a particular focus on older and younger people. By the end of 2024, Fibrus will have invested £120,000 in the Community Fund in Cumbria alone, supporting over 30 community groups based across Cumbria.