Give an hour and help friends get online

Did you know that 90% of jobs require basic internet skills (Nielsen Company 2009)? Did you know that the average household can save up to £560 a year by shopping and paying bills online (Race Online 2012)? Over 25 million people are already using Facebook to chat to friends and family, and social network sites can be a useful way to combat the social isolation and loneliness experienced by 3.1 million over 65 year olds who see a friend, relative or neighbour less than once a week.  (Participle.net)

If you have a relation, friend or neighbour who is missing out on the internet, they are potentially missing out on lots of ways to make their life easier and more enjoyable. All About You, in association with Go-on.co.uk/giveanhour, is encouraging all of our readers to give just one hour to help get someone started online.

But we don’t expect you to do it without help! Visit www.go-on.co.uk/giveanhour to pledge your hour and find exciting ideas, tools and tips to help others get online, watch films of some famous faces showing how they use the web, and find further local support. If everyone you know is already online, you can find places to volunteer on the site – maybe a local charity, care home or social club could benefit from your help?

More reasons to get involved and ‘give an hour’

Inspiring the final 8.7 million people in the UK who’ve never been online would deliver additional economic benefits of more than £20 billion to UK economy (PwC, 2009)

The main barriers for non-users are lack of understanding of the benefits (64%) and cost (23%).  (BBC research, 2009)

30 million daily internet users (ONS 2010) in the UK can help. Family and friends play a key role in helping new users, and a third of internet users are willing to pass skills on to others (BBC research, 2009)

Visit www.go-on.co.uk/giveanhour to pledge your time and help somebody new discover the internet

Martha Lane-Fox, founder of Lastminute.com, UK digital champion and chair of Race Online 2012, talked to us about her involvement in the campaign, why the internet can help so many people and what she likes to do online .... read our interview with Martha Lane-Fox here